


Invictus

by Annien



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: #Supercorp, And thanks her because that woman deserves the world, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, First try at this fandom because I really had to, I just had to write this because of that episode- man, Katie McGrath is a goddess, Lena Luthor is my hero, Lena Luthos is awesome, Okay I'm done with these silly tags, Okay now I'm really done, Re-telling of 2x08 with the end we wanted, So this is for her, SuperCorp, Where Kara checks on Lena, spoiler (duh)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-09-03 04:35:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 43,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8696776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annien/pseuds/Annien
Summary: Re-telling of episode 2x08 mostly from Lena's perspective with the addition where Kara actually goes back and checks on Lena. And also thanks her for saving the day! Plus the start of SuperCorp! Update 1: Originally a one shot that got to be a series in the end, tackling the start of their relationship. Update 2: Chapter 1-4 are rated as Teen, but that changes in chapter 5. Ch5 was initially meant to be Mature, but to be safe I tagged it Explicit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because the episode really hit me in the feels, and especially about what Lena did, I just could not stop thinking about it the whole day, so I had to write this. It includes actual dialogue from season 2, especially episode 8 (which is not something that I actually do in my fics).  
> The title comes from William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus", which you can read almost fully in this one-shot. Everything Lena went through made me think of that poem, which inspired the title in the end.  
> Most of it is from Lena's POV, but the end shows how both Lena and Kara are feeling.
> 
> All the characters (and some part of dialogue) in this belong to CW, CBS and the writers and producers of Supergirl, but I just had to use them because I am fangirling a lot!

Invictus

 

 

It was a few moments after Kara Danvers walked out of her office, a few moments after she impulsively called her mother, when Lena Luthor paced around in her office. Her thoughts were spinning in her head, trying to make sense of what she was feeling.

After the talk she had with Kara earlier, she did not know what was worse, that her only friend in National City used their friendship to get her to open up about the most intimate things about her, only to use them against her family, or that she knew that Kara had a reason for the deceit because of something her mother did.

No, she could not decide which one was worse, but both were equally painful. She felt betrayed by both in their own way, and she had to know why. She could not go to Kara to find out _her_ reasons, at least not until she knew what her mother was planning. And giving the fact that she already called her, the only thing Lena could do was to wait for her mother to walk through her office doors. Oh, she really needed a drink for that.

 

***

 

It was two hours later when Lena dismissed her mother.

“Thanks for stopping by, mom,” was the last thing she said and then let Lillian see herself out in the same way she barged in without any warning. Lillian walked in without any greeting and the second she saw her daughter, she went on and criticised her.

The whole conversation left Lena feeling drained and she really needed to down her glass of wine. Tasting the violet and rose petal aroma on her tongue, her eyes drifted to the untouched glass of wine her mother poured herself and she remembered the way Lillian frowned at her choice of drink. The bottle’s label read an Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon from 1941, which was twenty-five thousand dollars a bottle, but for Lillian it still wasn’t good enough.

It reminded Lena of how she never was good enough. Taking a sip from her drink, her mind drifted to the conversation that happened minutes before, Lillian’s words about family cutting through her heart.

 

“Overworking does run in the family,” Lillian said, and Lena knew the woman did not mean those words. She never considered her a daughter in anything but name.

“Now I know you are in the holiday spirit. Usually that kind of thought is followed by the backstabbing jibe about how I'm not really a Luthor. You never let me forget that I'm adopted. When it comes to your children, Lex was always your favourite.” It hurt to come clean with how she felt, bringing back all the painful memories of growing up. No matter how much she tried, no matter what she accomplished, Lillian never really accepted her and she always disapproved everything she ever did.

“You shouldn't take it all so personally. No parent truly loves their children equally and though maybe I loved Lex more, I do love you, Lena. In my own way.”

Only now Lillian meant half of what she said. And even though Lena knew how her mother felt about her, to be told that in your face was really painful, and the CEO of L-Corp felt something breaking inside of her. But, just like always, she had to bottle everything up and keep it together. She could not allow herself to show any weakness, not when she had to know what Lillian was planning. Lena already failed with Lex, allowing herself to be fooled by him, she could not let that happen again.

“Wow, now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, let me ask: What the hell are you up to?”

But of course the other woman wanted to leave the second she knew that her daughter was on to her. It would have been so easy to let her walk away, considering the fact that Lena regretted having inviting the woman over from the first moment she spoke, but she could not leave things unfinished.

“There's a reporter sniffing about. She's smart. She knows something about you. What is it?”

“I couldn't possibly imagine,” came the cold and calculated response.

“See, I know you're lying.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because you told me you loved me, and we both know that is not true.”

 

She shook her head to dismiss the thoughts that were paining her as much as they did when she told them to Lillian, but this time Lena could not hold back a tear falling down on her cheek. With a trembling hand she caught it and brushed away any sign of weakness. Trying to get back to her work, Lena became aware of the fact that it would not be Thanksgiving without family drama, after all.

 

***

 

Later that afternoon, Lena Luthor realised that she spoke too soon. It was naïve of her to think that having an open conversation with her mother about her feelings was the worst it could get. Of course Kara was right and Lillian did plan something. That something was to send her goon to attack L-Corp. If Supergirl hadn’t shown up to save her life, she would have been crushed by her own legacy, the concrete ‘L’ from ‘L-Corp’ that was thrown her way.

The day was getting more and more ridiculous with each passing moment, but for some reason Lena just could not take Supergirl’s advice and leave her office. She did not want to go home and be alone in her house with nothing but her thoughts. She needed a distraction, and her work was the only thing available that could provide that.

…Except it didn’t. Being in her office, starring at the guest chair in front of her desk, she remembered how it all started, with Kara sitting in the same chair and asking her for information – almost interrogating her, really.

Even though she realised from the moment Kara told her what was the interview about that it was just a poor excuse, something about the woman conducting it made her open up. It was easy to do that around Kara even from the beginning. She briefly remembered their conversation after Kara published her first article, the one about her vision regarding aliens and her device.

She remembered calling Kara to her office that late night because the woman surprised her. After their conversation earlier in the day she fully expected Kara to write an article in which to portray her exactly like the world saw her brother, and how he became in the end, paranoid and xenophobe. But when she read the article, she was slightly confused. And she was even more surprised when Kara showed up and did not try to pretend, did not try to lie to get in her good graces, but she was honest and admitted that she indeed wrote a slanted article, but later on had a change of heart. Lena admired her honesty and that made her open up about how she tried to stop her brother, but subsequently failed to do that.

And slowly they became friends, and Lena even admitted that Kara was the only person to make her feel accepted in National City, her only friend. In one way she was what Lex was for her at the beginning and she tried to expand on that relationship, even if she was scared out of her mind.

Lena did not know if she should take another risk like she did with her brother, but somehow Kara felt different. So she bit the bullet and left her office in the middle of the day, getting Jess to cancel two of her meetings, and went to CatCo to see Kara and invite her to her gala. And the moment that Kara saw her, how her face brightened at the surprise and the invitation really warmed her heart. It was something about the way Kara acted in her presence, and she was fairly sure that she reciprocated.

And more than that, Lena felt that there might be more between them, maybe something more than friendship. But she was proven earlier in the day that she was gravely mistaken when Kara showed her exactly what she wanted from her. She did not really want to be her friend, all she wanted was to get information from her…

Or maybe she was reading too much into it, being biased by everything that happened that was connected to her mother. She could not deny that Kara did not hurt her, but maybe her motives were good, even though her methods weren’t.

Ah, but she had to stop those exhausting thoughts she had all day and focus on her work. She finally picked up her tablet and continued analysing some readings that she abandoned when her mother interrupted her. It was somewhat relaxing to finally be alone with her work and have some peace of mind, but unfortunately that did not last too long.

Flying through her balcony door without any warning or heads-up was Supergirl, barging into her office much like Lillian did.

 _‘Funny how everyone decided to barge in today…’_ Lena thought. It felt completely ridiculous and she could not help a sarcastic laugh before speaking.

“You know that door is not really an entrance…”

Thinking better of it, she realised that it wasn’t quite fair to take all her frustrations on Supergirl, even if she did come uninvited. It was Lillian that Lena was mad at, not the Kryptonian.

“You know,” she added a split second later, changing her tone of voice to a more pleasant and sincere one, “actually I just wanted to thank you for earlier on, not only did you save the lives of countless of my employees, but mine as well.”

“Now I need your help.”

“Anything,” Lena offered.

“I need help finding your mother.”

At the mention of her mother, Lena lost any jovial tone she previously managed to gather.

“My mother?”

“Your mother, ah- is behind Cadmus. She's their leader.”

It was that moment when Lena felt all her world crumbling around her. Could- could Supergirl be right? Could her mother be exactly like Lex, having an agenda to exterminate all alien life on Earth? Or was Supergirl just biased and accusing Lillian of something so despicable just because she was a Luthor involved in something that might be shady? Did she… did she think the same about her? Would Lena ever be able to have a fresh start without being judged by her last name? No, that could not be true… She could not accept that to be her fate.

“You’re lying.”

“I'm not. She kidnapped me and now she possesses a virus that she could use to wipe out the entire alien population in National City. I need you to help me find her, so that she doesn't hurt more innocent people.”

In that moment Lena realised that she was indeed all alone in this whole mess. She lost Lex, the first person she trusted to show herself to, and now not only Kara Danvers but also Supergirl, both people she opened up to and believed in, showed their true faces… showed her what they really felt about a Luthor.

“You know, I thought you were different. You wear that symbol on your chest and everyone thinks you're good.” It all felt so painful that she could not supress a small, sarcastic laugh. “How many times did your cousin put on that high-and-mighty costume and come after Lex? My mother is no saint, but you come in here and accuse her of being the devil incarnate... How long before you come after me?”

“I know how it's like to be disillusioned by your parents. But I'm a pretty good judge of character, and you are not like your mother. She is cold, and dangerous, and you are too good and too smart to follow in her path.”

All the time Supergirl spoke, Lena thought she saw something more in her. It felt like more than just a speech to help her get to Lillian. She felt like the Kryptonian could relate to what she was saying, and that she truly spoke from somewhere inside herself. It felt… familiar, like bonding with Kara over shared past and pain did.

“Be your own hero!” Supergirl continued and those words were what made Lena’s anger resurface.

 _‘Be your own hero’_ , like all that a Luthor could be was a villain. That’s what Lex was, that’s the same path her mother choose, and now National City’s hero was trying to convince Lena not to be the same. It was like carrying the name Luthor was a curse, one that she was also sharing.

It was that realisation that brought Lena on the verge of tears again, and this time she was too exhausted to keep them in. “You can leave the same way you came in,” she said with the last shred of self-control that she had and then watched Supergirl do just that.

But even with her gone, those words still resonated in her mind. Was she no bigger than her name, no bigger that the apparent legacy her family left her? Was she doomed to share the same fate as her mother and brother?

Thinking back at her childhood, Lena remembered that her greatest desire was to be a part of a family. She was abandoned by her natural parents, but taken in while still young. That should have made her feel loved and desired, right? All she wanted was to _be_ a Luthor, but now she could not stand the person inside her who yearned that…

But did Supergirl really believe that she wanted to do good and… be good? ‘ _You are too good and too smart to follow in her path,’_ echoed in her mind over and over again, until she came to a conclusion. She had to see Lillian again.

 

***

 

 

She was looking out her window at the same place where she and Supergirl talked about working together in the future after she stopped the gang at her own gala by pulverising their weapons and probably saving the Kryptonian’s life in the process. It was Lillian’s voice that pulled her out of her memories.

“Twice in one day. It's almost like we have a real mother and daughter relationship.”

Lena did not give in to that taunting and remained focused on her goal. “The Medusa virus, that's why you sent your goon in here, for isotope 454. You're in charge of Cadmus.”

“Is this the part where you lecture me? Like you'd lectured Lex?”

“No.” A pause. It was not easy for her to say what she planned on saying next, but it was necessary. It hurt her to do it, but it was a personal sacrifice that she had to make. “What you said before, there was truth in that. Ask me for my help and I'll give it to you.”

“It's that easy?” Lillian asked cautiously.

“It's that easy,” Lena said as she opened the briefcase that was lying on her desk, revealing the thing her mother desired most.

“I didn't think you believed in the cause.”

Lillian was shocked to see the turn of events, but Lena made sure to control every part of their conversation.

“Then maybe it's time you got to know your daughter a little better.”

 

***

 

She turned the key and launched the rocket containing the virus. It was desolating to see what she needed to do in order to prove herself to her own mother. It also saddened her to see the hurt and betrayal that appeared on Supergirl’s face when she did it, but the deception was necessary if she was to put a stop to Cadmus.

But then Supergirl tried to stop the rocket mid-air, and they ran. Not too far away, they were still on the pier, because Lillian wanted to see her plan putting an end to all the alien in the moment she pressed the remote detonation of the rocket. Only that the expected outcome never came, and the older woman soon realised why. She realised that Lena switched the isotope to make the virus inert.

It did not matter, Lena could already hear sirens in the distance, coming to arrest Lillian. And when they did handcuff and escort her into a police car, the CEO realised that she stopped a genocide from happening, but at a personal cost. She lost her last family member, the last person she hoped to ever understand her, her mother. She knew it was insane to still think of Lillian like that, but she could not help it.

After she gave the police officers her statement, they offered to take her home, but for some reason she found herself back into her office at L-Corp.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kara found herself back to the DEO headquarters, with both Mon-El and J’onn cured. She took a moment to contemplate on how close she came to losing both of them, and realised that the only reason why she didn’t was because the virus did not work. She had her suspicions on who prevented the catastrophe, but both Alex and Eliza confirmed that the virus was rendered inert because the isotope was modified. Still, she could not take her mind of what she saw, and what she felt, in the moment she arrived at the docks. She saw all the goodness in Lena, the amazing person she was, and in a very short time that woman became her friend, a real and true friend. To see her launch that rocket shook her to the core. Her feelings were conflicting. On one side she was feeling extremely hurt by what she saw - and thought - Lena was doing, but on the other side she felt remorse for not being able to turn Lena from that path. While flying after the rocket she even believed that it was her who pushed the woman into Lillian’s arms by being too judgemental. It was a very real possibility, and even though now she knew that it wasn’t the case, Kara had to see the woman and apologise. She also understood what Lena was going through, even though technically she wasn’t the one who stopped Astra.

Something told her that she knew where to find Lena, so she flew back to the L-Corp building for the fourth time that day, but unlike the last time, she stopped close to the building, not wanting to intrude again.

Lena Luthor was on her balcony, looking over the city, and she looked so lost that Kara actually felt her heart ache in her chest at the sight. It took a moment for Lena to see her, and even after she did, the woman did not know how to react at first. Kara waited and she was ready to fly away, unsure if Lena wanted to talk to her, but then the CEO leaned her head to the side and pointed for the Kryptonian to join her.

“How did you know I was here? Am I that predictable?” Lena asked without taking her eyes from the city.

“No, you’re not. It was just a lucky guess…”

Silence fell between the two women again, and clearly Lena was not going to speak soon. So, it had to be Kara the one to break the silence, she was the one who went there to talk, after all.

“I came by to say _‘thank you’_ and to apologise for earlier.”

“What would you have to apologise for? The only thing you did was to try and tell me that I can be whomever I choose to be, was it not?”

“What about the part where I accused your mother of being _‘the devil incarnate’_?”

“That… might have been an exaggeration of mine,” Lena confessed, but Kara could not hear it.

“Lena, stop!” she said in a serious way and with a powerful and solid voice.

Lena never heard anyone giving her that tone, but it was the way Supergirl said her name that made her frown for a split of a second. There was something familiar hearing her name like that. Usually when they talked, Supergirl was trying to be formal, always calling her ‘miss Luthor’, but now it was the second time in a few hours when the Kryptonian called her ‘Lena’. And it was hard not to notice the familiarity behind it, when only one other person in National City – besides her mother who was now behind bars – called her Lena. And that person was Kara Danvers. Now that she had a strong feeling about her presumption, she looked to her left at Supergirl and it was impossible not to see Kara in her.

Lena suspected even before. It all started after she showed the reporter her alien detection device. She previously tested it on a human subject and on a willing alien, before Lena showed it to Kara. After that moment, when she was about to present it to the board of directors, the device was not working. Taking it back to her lab to study it, Lena saw that one of the connectors on the motherboard, the one in charge of sending the red signal was fried, so the device would always show the green light. At a first glance that meant nothing, but wanting to find the reason behind it in order to prevent reoccurrence, Lena realised that the temperature used to fry it was, by her calculations, close to five thousand degrees, temperature that only two other people could generate outside a lab. On top of that there was the fact that Kara’s disguise was minimalistic, and the fact that the two were never at the same time by her side at her gala.

Still, it was not something that she felt saying right away, so she wanted Kara to continue.

“Stop what?”

“Stop making it sound like it was your fault, because it was not. You had nothing to do with it. I get that you tried to turn your mother from this path just like you tried to do with your brother, but this is not your fault! You took down Cadmus alone today, and also that gang at the gala – which saved my life – and you also saved my si- ah,” Kara panicked realising that she almost slipped there. “… my friend, Alex Danvers when you shot Corbin. You put yourself in danger over and again to do good and save the day, and unlike me you do not have any resistance to bullets or the strength to smash through entire blocks of concrete with one finger. But you _do_ have strength, strength to see your goals through even if it means sacrificing a part of yourself to do it. And that is the rarest kind of strength there is.”

It was difficult for Lena not to get emotional hearing Kara’s words. She was so used to being alone that when earlier in the morning the same woman came to her, she immediately presumed that she was just like everyone else, looking for something to gain from getting close to her. And she even told Supergirl last time she was in her office how she thought she was different as well.

But only now she could see clearly how the woman standing next to her saved her. Yes, she literally rescued her multiple times as Supergirl, but she did more than that. And Lena knew she had to let her know that.

“I, thank you…” she said. Seeing Kara’s confusion, Lena turned to face her, touching one of her hands and continued. “In my life I only had one person believe in me and everyone knows how that turned out to be. But you not only had faith in me when I needed it the most, you also came to my rescue every time I needed it. You’ve been there for me when no one else was, and especially when everyone I cared about did not make me feel valued or appreciated. So yes, thank you for being a good friend.”

Hearing those words coming from Lena made Kara feel butterflies in her stomach, but at the same time it made her feel guilty. The woman was talking about not having her friends there for her when she needed the most, and she could not help but feel like that also included Kara Danvers, Lena’s only friend in National City.

But how could she tell her that it was not entirely true? _‘Oh, actually Lena, you know, your friend also believed in you but **she** could not tell you that in person because **she** was with you in a costume, pretending to be someone else’._ Kara could not say that, but she had to say _something._

“I…,” Kara adverted her eyes and worried her lip in between her teeth until she gathered the courage to speak again. “I wasn’t always a good friend, Lena. Today I took advantage of that friendship you offered me.”

In that moment, Lena knew exactly what Kara meant and she realised that she could tell Kara that she knew her true identity, but she decided to let the other woman tell her in her own way. So she feigned ignorance. “I don’t consider that you wanting my help in taking down my mother counts.”

A few moments later when Kara spoke again, Lena realised that she made the right choice.

“I don’t mean the second time I spoke to you about _that_ … But-but the first time, as Kara Danvers.”

Kara expected Lena to react, to be shocked, to want to run away, to feel deceived, anything, but the woman was none of that. All she could see was a calm and composed Lena, looking back at her with a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Wait,” realisation dawned on her, “you knew?”

When Lena nodded silently, it was Kara’s turn to be shocked, her eyes going wide and she wanted to remove her hand from Lena’s and take a couple of steps back. She did not do that when she realised that the other woman was holding her hand, and even though it would have been easy to pull herself from that grip, Kara realised that she did not want to.

Sensing her distress, Lena used both hands to take Kara’s hair and pull it in a ponytail at the back of her head, making her look exactly like Kara.

The Kryptonian did not know what to do. She could not deny what she just said, or take it back because that would have been an insult to the woman’s intellect, so she asked the only other thing that was on her mind.

“But h-how… how did you know?”

Lena smiled and tucked one side of Kara’s hair behind her ear. “Well, there were some things you said before: like the fact that you _flew_ to my office – and on a bus at that –, or how you almost referred to Alex as your sister earlier, or the fact that just a few moments ago, as Supergirl, you knew things that I only told Kara Danvers. And also, after I looked into what caused my alien identifying device to malfunction I found out that it was exposed to a temperature of about five thousand degrees, which I assume is the temperature of your heat vision. But the thing that made me be sure of it was when you called me today ‘Lena’, and not ‘miss Luthor’. That is something that only Kara did, plus I…” despite her bravado, Lena felt herself blush slightly, “I noticed it because I love the way my name falls off your lips.”

Even as she said the words, Lena could not tear her eyes off Kara. She was enchanted by the blonde and it really meant a lot to her that Kara trusted her again, this time with her biggest secret.

“So, I want to thank you again, Kara. Nobody ever did for me what you just did. Nobody trusted me with something so crucial and at the same time so intimate about oneself.”

Gaining a bit more courage to explore this new side of the bond that formed in between them, Kara managed to take a step forward and close the distance between them, her hands taking hold of Lena’s hips.

“But I should have been there for you today, Lena. Instead, I left you alone to fight what must have been the most difficult fight of your life and carry the responsibility of saving every alien life in National City by yourself on what must have been your darkest day. But then you showed me once more how strong you are and that you did not need my help. You never needed me to save you, Lena, because it was you who saved me, and you weren’t afraid for even a second. You went on and proved that you could escape the fate your family members shared by taking control of it and making it your own.”

By the time she finished what she wanted to say, Lena’s fiery gaze made her feel hot inside. Kara always admired the CEO from the first time she met her, but something about how Lena looked in that moment made Kara fully realise the extent of her fascination with the other woman. And the fact that Lena looked exquisite in the moonlight with that bright red lipstick contrasting between her pale face and her vivid lips made Kara think of her as a piece of art in itself. It was like Lena was at the same time the most beautiful painting Kara ever saw, the most melodious song she ever heard and the most inspiring poem she ever read. It was a few moments after that realisation when Kara found that her mouth started speaking on its own accord, reciting poetry.

 

_“In the fell clutch of circumstance_

_I have not winced nor cried aloud._

_Under the bludgeonings of chance_

_My head is bloody, but unbowed._

_Beyond this place of wrath and tears_

_Looms but the Horror of the shade,_

_And yet the menace of the years_

_Finds and shall find me unafraid._

_It matters not how strait the gate,_

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate,_

_I am the captain of my soul.”_

 

Lena could only watch in awe what was happening. Kara was holding her in her arms, comforting her, looking deep into her eyes and bearing her soul out with a poem dedicated to her. And that was all it took for Lena to lean and press her lips against Kara’s own. At first she did not feel the other woman react, but a couple of seconds later she felt Kara returning the kiss, and the woman’s hold on her hips slightly increasing, almost like she did not want to let Lena go. But they did have to come back for air, and when they broke apart there was a smirk pulling at the corner of the CEO’s lips.

“Well, if you wanted to seduce me by reciting Henley’s poetry to me, you certainly succeeded… But, let me ask you this, why _Invictus_?”

“Because that’s how you are, Lena. It does not matter what life throws at you, you will always come at the other side undefeated. And that is because _you_ are in control of your own fate, nobody else.”

It was for the third time that day when Lena’s eyes filled with tears, but this time they were joyful tears. For the first time in her life, Lena felt truly at home in Kara’s arms, leaning to kiss the woman who finally understood her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all of you,
> 
> Wow, I never imagined this story to get 3k hits, and I definitely did not expect those 280 kudos!! I believe every single person who read and liked this story is great, and the ones that took the time to also leave a comment really made my days better. I was even left speechless in this amazing way that I cannot even begin to describe...
> 
> So, as a thanks to all the readers, here is a short continuation... a scribble really. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 2

 

Kara Danvers found herself kissing Lena Luthor. Her friend, Lena Luthor… Even if it felt sudden, she could not deny that she did imagine how it would be like to crush her lips against the sweet, perfect ones she was tasting now. Wanting more, she brushed her tongue over Lena’s bottom lip as a silent plea, and in the moment Lena allowed her access, Kara deepened the kiss. She could not have imagined a more perfect, blissful kiss, so the Kryptonian got absorbed into it and got lost in the passionate moment. Her body started reacting to Lena’s on its own accord, and before she could even realise what was happening, she was pulling the other woman closer to her, lifting her off the ground and progressively moving to the other side of the balcony.

Kara came back to her senses, only to find that she was pinning Lena to the office window, when she felt the other woman let out a moan in the moment that her back touched the glass. Embarrassed by how she lost her control, Kara pulled back and lowered them both to touch the ground again.

“I’m sorry Lena, I don’t really know what happened,” Kara sounded flushed when she spoke. “You just have this effect on me…” the Kryptonian said, shielding her gaze away.

It did not work, not when Lena cupped her chin and turned Kara’s attention back on her, meeting her gaze. And what the blonde saw in those beautiful green eyes was not regret, but a deep desire that was barely kept in check.

“You don’t have to apologise, Kara, I…”

Kara saw Lena’s gaze move lower and settle on her lips, and at the same time saw the other woman bite her bottom lip, almost like she was desperately trying to hold herself from jumping back on Kara. That was when she realised that the Luthor had her completely under a spell, and just the thought that Lena wanted the same thing as her caused a shiver to run through her spine in her whole body and then settle in her lower belly. Before Kara could do something impulsive again, Lena captured her attention by continuing.

“I _really_ enjoyed you doing that.”

The very next second, Kara saw Lena take charge again and lean in to kiss her, and unlike a few moments ago, this time it was not rushed. The kiss was slow, and she had time to explore and, most importantly, she had time to feel the affection the brunette was pouring into their kiss.

When it ended, Kara was left breathless and stunned by how right it all felt. She felt like in a dream, and in order to prove to herself that it was not only in her imagination, the blonde raised her hand to her lips and felt them tingly, heat emanating from them. She then realised that it was not all in her head and that the past minutes really happened and she and Lena really kissed… several times.

That awakening also told Kara that she did not know where they were standing. Was it just something that happened once, or did Lena want more? Just the thought that she would experience the best thing in her life for one night and then lose it caused her to slightly panic. Realising that she had to calm down before she would give away her insecurities, the Kryptonian took a different approach and decided to find out what Lena wanted. Kara tried not to show how she was feeling, but she hesitated before speaking.

“Then, would you like to aaa… do that again sometimes? Like, I don’t know… Saturday night, over dinner?”

“Kara Danvers, are you asking me on a date?” Lena teased the blonde, a knowing smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

“I-I guess I am. That’s if aaa… That’s if you’d like me to?” Kara stumbled on her words.

Seeing the flushed – but cute – way in which Kara acted, Lena decided to play with her a bit more. She hoped that putting on her serious face before speaking would leave Kara slightly more confused about her intentions.  

“I guess I could say yes, on two conditions.”

“Yes, go on?” Kara asked cautiously.

“First one, _I_ get to take _you_ out on the date. And the second one is… I get to do more of this.”

In the moment she saw what Lena intended to do, Kara knew that it was all in order to wash her insecurities away. She also realised that the brunette played her, but if that was the way the other woman wanted to make it up to her, Kara did not mind it at all. She leaned in and accepted Lena’s apology in form of a brief kiss. When she spoke she returned to being normal-Kara not awkward-at-reading-signs-Kara.

“Well then, miss Luthor, I guess you got yourself a date.”

Kara did not want to end things so soon, but she realised that it was past midnight already and that they both went through a trying day.

“I’d really hate to end things now, Lena, but it’s been a long day for both of us, and you should really get some rest. Would you, aaa… Would you like a ride home?”

“You don’t need to trouble yourself with that, Kara, I can always get a taxi or something…”

But Kara did not buy it, she knew the real reason why Lena was so reluctant to accept her offer. Putting on her best smile and a slightly teasing voice, she continued.

“Is this your way of saying that you are afraid of flying?”

“Pffft, no!” Lena narrowed her eyes.

A few moments after, seeing that she could not dissuade Kara from her – true – beliefs, the brunette rolled her eyes and admitted her fear.

“Okay, fine… I am afraid of flying!”

Looking at Lena’s almost miffed expression, Kara could not help her grin from widening. The blonde then took another step forward, turned her smile to a warmer one and offered her hand to the other woman.

“Don’t you trust me by now? Do you think I would let anything bad happen to you?”

Lena was baffled by Kara’s sincere expression. She did trust the Kryptonian, maybe even more than she trusted anyone else in her entire life, and she needed to show her that. Lena looked at the outstretched hand and offered her own.

“I do trust you Kara…” she said sincerely.

Seeing once again the trust Lena placed in her, Kara swore not to break it again, like she did earlier in the day. She then silently asked Lena if she was ready and when the brunette offered her a nod, Kara picked the woman into her arms with no effort and held her close to her chest.

When Lena instinctively placed her hands around her neck, Kara felt her body slightly warm up. She was extremely happy to be able to share that with the person she felt so strong about, overjoyed really. The Kryptonian then offered the woman one more look to ensure that she was comfortable, kissed Lena’s forehead and then slowly ascended in the air.

Even after she accepted Kara’s offer to give her a lift home, Lena was still reluctant about how the journey would be, but being so close to Kara, feeling the affectionate kiss on top of her head and the strong arms that were holding her tightly, Lena relaxed and enjoyed flying for the first time. Maybe her new development with Kara Danvers – and Supergirl – really had some unique benefits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dear reader, it's me again... Thanks for getting this far. 
> 
> I found out that I liked writing these two women together like this, so if you'd like to see them at their date, let me know in the comments and, who knows, I might give it a shot!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People, people, people… If you are here on this Supercorp fic, you most probably aren’t interested in whatever else is happening in Kara’s life besides Lena. And what I mean by that is… if you want to read further, you’ll have to forget about Mon-El and about Kara going to Earth-1, which is what I ‘kinda’ did. I said kind of, because I did forget about Mon-El, and I just chose to ignore the travel. I mean, you can think it happened and Kara got back in time for her date, but I did not go into details there as it is not related to this story’s arc. 
> 
> Please, enjoy this chapter and there's a thing you have to look out for at the very end. Is a question addressed to you about how I should continue this. Feel free to let me know what you want to see next in the comments.

Chapter 3

 

Kara was woken up from her peaceful sleep by loud knocks on the door. _‘It’s way too early for this… maybe if I ignore it they will go away’_ , the blonde thought as she buried her head back into the pillows. But the knocking did not stop and she started getting annoyed by the constant sound.

“Go away!” she shouted before thinking better of it. Allowing herself to wake up enough to be able to analyse the situation, she realised that it might be Lena the person standing outside of her apartment. With that thought in mind she shot out of the bed and used her X-Ray vision to see who was responsible for making that horrible sound. When she saw who was at the door, all her excitement died off.

 _‘Oh, it’s just Alex,’_ the Kryptonian thought, but despite her lack of excitement she went and opened the door.

“Hey, I thought you’d never open,” said Alex in a surprisingly happy tone, despite the fact that normally she would have busted the door open a couple of minutes earlier.

“Mornin’,” was the only answer she received from a very tired and very grumpy Kara.

The blonde did not even pay attention to her sister as the older Danvers was unloading her bags on the table.

“Look, this really great thing happened last night and I thought that I would bring you breakfast and coffee from Noonan’s, and that we can talk about it.”

But Alex was left to talk alone, as her sister crashed on the couch and hugged a pillow close to her chest, trying to lean her head on it and catch more sleep. It was quite a nice sight to see Kara doze off in an instant, but also unusual. And with Alex being Alex, curiosity got the better of her and she wanted to know the reason for Kara’s state.

Looking around the room, the DEO agent saw something out of the ordinary, the fact that her sister’s laptop was still on. Knowing that she would most probably discover what she was looking for on it, Alex sat at Kara’s desk and started searching Kara’s latest activity. The first thing she did was to bring back the internet browser from the taskbar and she saw several tabs open with advices on…

“Dating sites?!” Alex shouted her surprise.

The sudden loud noise reached Kara’s ears and the Kryptonian stirred awake, confused about what was happening. “I’m awake, I’m awake I swear… Where’s the fire? Who’s in trouble?”

“You are missy, if you don’t tell your big sister why are you looking at,” she paused to check another tab on Kara’s internet browser, “ _‘how to go out on a lesbian date?’,_ or _‘ideas for what to do after a romantic dinner’,_ or _‘dating powerful women – power dynamics in bed’,_ oh and this one…”

Realising what page Alex opened, Kara’s eyes widened in shock and in a split of a second she was next to her sister, closing the laptop.

“Yeah, I get it Alex. What’s your point?”

“My point is that you don’t have to search the internet if you do want to talk to someone. You know I’m here for you, right? I actually came by to talk to you, Kara, so… would you like to tell me about this?”

“Talk? About this? With my sister?! Pffft, no… I got it covered,” the blonde said, a blush appearing on her cheeks.

Alex rolled her eyes at Kara’s awkwardness, even though she was used to it by now. “I didn’t refer to sex, Kara, even though we can talk about it if you want… I meant about you liking women. You never told me that…” realising that her sister did not share that part with her, especially when Alex had the same realisation not too long ago, made the agent feel a little disappointed.

And Kara, well, even though she was most of the time oblivious about what was happening around her with other people, she did get what Alex meant, and when she realised that she should have told Alex about the previous night, or at least make some effort towards that, she winced at how badly she handled the whole thing. “It’s not what you think, Alex. I would have told you, but I didn’t know that I like… women? Or one in particular…”

“But you do know now?” the big Danvers asked cautiously.

Before answering the question, Kara’s mood brightened considerably, a smile taking hold of her entire face. “Well, kissing Lena Luthor has a way of acting as an awakening, I guess…”

“You and Lena kissed? When did that happen?”

“Last night when I went to check up on her and thank her for stopping her mother.”

“Wait, Kara, you didn’t go to Lena last night, Supergirl did…” Alex had her suspicions about what happened, but was too afraid to voice them.

Kara also had an idea about what was going through her sister’s mind.

“No, Alex, I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t like that. I didn’t tell her anything, she already knew.”

“She already knew… when?” Alex caught Kara’s choice of words.

“Whn I weft ad teller…” Kara mumbled almost inaudible while she busied herself with unpacking what Alex brought.

“What was that? I didn’t quite _hear_ you properly.”

Turning to her sister with an exasperate look, Kara told her exactly what happened.

“Okay, fine! When I told her that it was Kara in front of her. But she already knew that, Alex, and she didn’t say anything to anyone. Not to her mother, not to me, she waited until I was ready to tell her.”

“And what makes you think you were ready to tell her? Or that she was ready to know? She’s a Luthor, Kara!” Alex’s tone made it clear that their conversation was slowly turning into an argument.

“She is nothing like her brother or mother, and you know that, Alex! You were there when she changed LexCorp. Dear Rao, Alex, she saved your life! She saved my life! And last night every alien in National City. She could have very easily let Lex and Lillian’s plans happen, but she didn’t. She chose to make the hard decisions and stand against her family and choose her own path… We are not what our parents are, Alex… We don’t have to be!”

Hearing the pain in Kara’s voice, Alex knew that she had to comfort her sister, so she closed the distance between them and hugged Kara.

“I’m sorry that you found out that your parents weren’t how you remembered them, but they did what they had to do in order to protect Krypton, in order to protect you. While I’m not condoning their methods, they did what they thought it would be best.”

Kara pulled out of the hug so she could speak again. “And Lillian did what she thought would be best for Earth. There are some dangerous aliens out there as you well know, and they need to be stopped. Lillian thought it would be best to do that before more humans get hurt. And she used my father’s virus to do that… But Lena stopped her. She knew that is not the moral way to do things!”

“I get it, Kara. I trust you to know what you are doing, and if you think that’s what you want, I’ll support you. I was just trying to protect you.”

“I know, Alex. That’s what you always do, but I had to tell her. I had to show her that I trust her in the same way that she trusts me. And I failed to do that at the start of yesterday,”

“But you came along in the end and made things better. You even got the girl, no?”

“Yes, we’re actually going on a date tomorrow night…” Kara made a pause to choose her words carefully. “And I didn’t want to say anything about it, because I didn’t want to make you feel… aaa… because of you know who– “

Alex stopped her right there, a smile on her face.

“Actually Kara, if you wouldn’t have fallen back asleep earlier, you would have known by now that you-know-who dropped by my place last night and, well, we made out. Something about being shot, realising life’s too short and that we should do the things we like.”

“And giving that she likes you, did she _“do”_ you?” the blonde asked teasingly.

“Kara!”

“What? You said that we can talk about sex.”

“Yeah, but not like that!”

“Relax, Alex, it was just a joke.”

“Haha, funny, but we didn’t have sex.” Thinking for a second about it, the brunette continued. “Did you two?”

“No, but I did get carried away and, let’s just say that things could have went that way. We decided to try a date instead.”

“And do you think that after the date…?”

Just thinking about it made Kara feel awkward again. “I don’t know. Can we just not talk about it?”

“Oh, so it’s okay to make assumptions about my sex life, but when it comes to yours it stops being okay?” Alex teased.

Kara knew that her sister was just playing with her, exactly like she did before, and she didn’t mind that. But she was still conflicted, part of her wanting to talk about it, while the other half was too shy.

Alex knew her sister way too well to miss what was happening.

“Kara, if you want we can drop it, jump on the sofa and watch some Netflix. But if you do want, we can have breakfast, a nice cup of coffee – which you’ll have to reheat – and talk about whatever you want.”

Kara didn’t have to consider the offer. She took the breakfast and the coffees and headed for the sofa.

“It would be a shame to let all of this go to waste. Plus, you have to tell me all about Maggie!”

 

***

 

Lena was driving herself mad trying to come up with the perfect date night. Being a Luthor and a woman of such power came with certain advantages, meaning that she could get in literally any place or restaurant she wanted, even with only a half an hour notice.

Every time she went on a date before, her partners demanded to be taken to a fancy restaurant where they could eat gourmet food for which you needed a specially trained person to tell you which wine best complimented that particular dish. Lena did not mind it before, knowing that it had to happen, but she could not say that it was her perfect date. Maybe once in a while she did enjoy going to a fancy restaurant herself, but she hated the pretentiousness she had to put up with before.

But not anymore. She had to remind herself several times that she was not in Metropolis anymore and she was going out with Kara Danvers. Kara who most probably would feel weird going to the only kind of dates Lena used to go to. Kara who enjoyed sitting home in her pyjamas and watching TV series. Kara who had a real appetite and loved potstickers. So, maybe for the first time in her life Lena could organise something enjoyable for the both of them, something fun.

Thinking when was the last time she genuinely had fun, Lena realised that it was the night before she left for boarding school, when Lex made her a surprise and they both sneaked out of their rooms in the middle of the night and played games until the morning. Of course Lillian did not approve of their escapade, but neither of them cared back then.

That was probably the last carefree time she spent with her family, and last time she did not have to rise up to Lillian’s standards and expectations, apart from the rebellious flings she had while in boarding school with some girls. Obviously that ended when Lillian found out about her “extracurricular activities” and then took charge of Lena’s education and transformation into the successful and calculated woman she was today. Or at least that was what she liked to believe, when in truth Lena choose her own path as best as she could under the circumstances.

So maybe now, after so many years, Lena could break the composed persona everyone saw and just be herself. She knew that she could do that around Kara, and that gave her an idea about their date.

 

***

 

Kara checked her watch for the third time in the last minute. She still had a few minutes until Lena was supposed to pick her up, but she could not help pace around her room, pick up random things and play with them, only to have a distraction. But that was not working, she still could not settle her nerves or overanalyse the situation. She was not suited for dating – she never did that! – and she knew that there were very high chances for her to mess things up. She was going on a date with Lena Luthor after all, and she could not help being a huge mess even before her date arrived.

Speaking of which, Kara heard a knock on her door and rushed to open, using her super speed – which probably was not the wisest decision she ever made. In her haste to open the door she created a draft of wind behind her and she managed to break the flower vase that was on the table. But she could not worry about it now as she had bigger issues. Trying, and failing one more time to calm her nerves, Kara opened the door. When she was greeted with her date partner, the blonde realised that she was not ready for what awaited her on the other side of the door.

The first thing she saw was Lena’s face, and she immediately realised that the woman gave up on her usual style and pulled her hair up in a bun. The few loose strands of curly hair here and there framed her face perfectly and highlighted her full red lips that Kara was already dying to kiss. She would have if she wouldn’t have been so busy to be in awe and stare.

And Lena, well she allowed her to do that, simply standing there with a smile on her face. When she saw Kara biting her bottom lip and not making any attempt to move, the brunette shifted her weight on one leg, cocked her head to the side and smirked at the blonde, her expression almost asking ‘do you like what you see?’

But if her intention was to break Kara from the spell, she did not succeed. The movement of her hips only attracted the Kryptonian to take in the rest of her. And if she was in awe before, now she was completely mesmerised.

Lena was sporting a relaxed, but elegant look with high-waist, dark grey, fluid trousers adorned with black spots to create an intricate design. On top she had a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and complimented with a deconstructed jacket that was falling loosely at her back, the same style as her trousers.

Kara could not deny how stunning Lena looked in that pantsuit, managing to be feminine and display a full amount of authority at the same time. And the interesting part about her outfit was that she could meet with the president like that, or just go out for a walk in the park. That fact alone stunned Kara, who was dressed in a white shirt with small black dots, tucked in waist high olive coloured pants, held by a brown leather belt. Lena previously texted her saying to wear something comfortable, so there she was…

That was the only thing that made Kara realise that they were still standing in the door, and her eyes shot to meet Lena’s before speaking for the first time.

“Le-Lena! Hi. You aaa, you look stunning!”

“Aw, thanks Kara. That means a lot coming from you. You look so adorable and gorgeous.”

“Wha-? Me? What? Nooo,” Kara awkwardly stumbled upon her words. “But you, oh… _you!_ ”

Kara was not able to finish her mumbling as she was silenced by Lena’s lips crashing into hers. It was that moment when Kara was able to relax and forget about her nerves. When the kiss ended, the brunette was the first one to speak.

“Sorry about that, but you looked so cute while rambling that I couldn’t help it.”

The kiss was so good that Kara could not think of any answer, her brain still stuck on what was going around before the kiss.

“But seriously, you.look.so…”

“Stunning?” Lena asked mischievously, already knowing how Kara was going to finish that sentence.

The blonde, seeing how Lena was playing with her, swore to up her game. Looking at Lena’s teasing expression gave her both hope and the incentive she needed to be bolder. She lowered her hands on Lena’s hips and pulled her closer, allowing their lips to meet into a passionate kiss. The CEO was now the one caught by surprise, and Kara took advantage of that. She leaned in and brushed her lips against the brunette’s ear – which caused Lena to shiver from the sudden contact – before she spoke again.

“But you look even better in my arms.”

The Kryptonian got the reaction she was hoping for when she heard Lena giggle and then let out a seductive “Smooth talker…”

“Well, I try,” came Kara’s response, which made both women laugh.

Their interaction made Kara relax completely. She did not even know why she worried in the first place, because whenever the two women were together, the atmosphere was light-hearted and sweet. That was what gave Kara hope that she wouldn’t somehow ruin their date. Which reminded her…

“So, where are we going? Not that I mind staying in my apartment and make out the whole night. Trust me, I would enjoy that very much!”

“Well, where we are going is a surprise. You’ll see when we get there. Come on!” Lena said and then dragged Kara out of the apartment.

 

***

 

When they got to the place, they entered using the back door, so Kara did not know where they were exactly. The inside was all dimmed, the only light coming from candles and light decorations on the wall. The atmosphere was complimented by soft lounge music playing in the background.

"Why are we the only people here?" Kara asked.

"Because I thought both of us would like this better than an overcrowded restaurant. Plus, with your appetite, I thought you would like to have more than just one small dish which is made more for looking at, rather than for eating it."

Looking at the table set for the two of them, candlelight reflecting in the several dish holders, Kara realised that Lena was not joking. She then felt the other woman take her hand and allowed her to lead them to the table.

After they both took their sits, Lena went on revealing the variety of food and Kara could not believe that what she was seeing was true.

"Wait, you got chow mein, and prawn wontons, and spring rolls, and egg tarts and... potstickers?! How? How did you know?"

Lena did her best to suppress a giggle seeing Kara's baffled, but at the same time, pleased expression.

"Kara, I've known for a while what kind of food you like, and ever how you take your coffee. Do you think I just _happened_ to serve potstickers at the gala? Those were there for you..."

"But why?" Kara asked confused.

"Because I liked you and I wanted to do something nice for you, something that you'd like." Lena said sincerely.

"I-I don't know what to say, Lena. For the gala and for now..."

"Say that you like it and that this date is not a disaster?" Lena said, worrying her lower lip in between her teeth and looking unsure, similar to how she did when she invited Kara to her gala.  
It was that moment when Kara realised that Lena was concerned about their date, much like she was previously.

"Are you kidding, Lena? This is the best date I ever had! No one was so thoughtful about me, ever!" The blonde looked into those deep, green, shining eyes for a moment longer, before shying away in embarrassment. "I don't know how I could return that..."

"Hey, you don't have to," said Lena over the table while reaching and taking Kara's hand into her own. "But if it means that much to you, know that you are doing that already just by being here."

When Kara lifted her eyes back, she was instantly drawn by her date's look of adoration. It was so sincere and so full of... something - Kara couldn't name it, or was afraid to do so - that it made her weaker than kryptonite ever did. Once again she was getting lost in admiring Lena, when she saw the brunette's lips move, so she focused on what she was saying.

"I think we should eat before the food gets cold. We'll need the energy for what I have planned next..."

 

***

 

"Are you telling me that all this time we were in an arcade centre? Come on, this place is insane! So many choices..." Kara could not hide her excitement.

"What do you want to try first?"

"Pac-man! No, pinball. No, fighting simulator... Nooooo, bowling!"

"I have to warn you, Kara, I am pretty good at bowling..." Lena boasted, and Kara wasn't one to say no to a challenge.

"Then bring it on, miss Luthor."

 

* * *

 

 

"How are you even possible?" Kara asked in disbelief.

"I told you I'm good at bowling."

"Good? I'm good at bowling. Alex is great at bowling, but you? You score 156 points are you call yourself just good?"

"Maybe I wanted to trick you into playing something that I excel at so that I can win."

"Oh, so it's about winning then? Why didn't you say so? I would've been more competitive if I knew. What is the winner's prize then?"

"Well, let’s agree to this. Whoever wins can ask anything she wants and the other has to say yes."

"Hmm, the possibilities... I'm in," Kara said mischievously. "And because you have an unfair advantage over me, I get to choose something that I excel at."

"Go ahead..." Lena said confidently.

"Okay, let me have a look around."

A few seconds later Kara returned, wearing a huge grin on her face. Seeing the blonde like that, Lena narrowed her eyes. The Kryptonian had to find something that she did not take into consideration to be so smug about it... And she did. When Lena saw what Kara choose, she wanted to give up before even playing.

"But it's not fair, Kara!" the brunette complained when she saw where Kara took her. 

"The first game wasn't fair either. Come on, at least try..."

"I know nothing about fighting, Kara, how do you want me to do this?" Lena asked, staring at the punching machine in front of her.

"Okay, to even the field you’re going to take the women setting, while I'm going to choose the man one. Better?"

"Like that makes any difference... You can break the machine with one finger. I actually saw you smash through blocks of concrete without putting any effort into it..."

"Stop being such a coward and throw a punch already!" Kara tried her luck.

"Trying to anger me won't work Kara."

"Hey, worth a shot. Come on, Lena, just try." Kara begged.

"Fine," Lena rolled her eyes and hit the small punching bag. She managed not to injure herself, but her score was a total of 127 points, lighting the "house-wife" title. “See, I’m not good at it!”

“That’s because you need a bit of help at first. Here, let me.” She said and got closer to the brunette.

She took a moment to think how it would be best to teach Lena, and a few moments after she knew exactly how to speak on Lena’s language.

“Okay, don’t think about it as needing to have big muscles to throw a proper punch, that’s completely wrong. Think from another perspective… You like physics, try and find a way to apply more force using your entire body, not just your arm. Like this…” Kara went behind Lena to demonstrate how to apply what she tried to explain, rotating her whole body, starting from the hips. She took a hold of Lena’s hips, placed her chin on the brunette’s shoulder and guided her through the motion.

But Lena could hardly focus on what Kara was showing her, having the other woman so close to her was messing up with her concentration. All she wanted was to melt into Kara’s arms right then, but she knew that their night just started. It would have been a shame to put a stop to their date when she had a point to prove and a game to win. Then she could use that to get Kara to do just what she wanted.

So she made herself concentrate on Kara’s motion, rather than her body, and when she was confident she tried again. She had to do better this time, the motivation being the end-game reward.

And she did, but not close to what she was sure she needed to best Kara. It was still a big improvement, scoring 468 points and getting promoted to ‘kick boxer’.

“Wow, that was great! Look at the progress.”

“I had a good teacher,” Lena said and she leaned to kiss the Kryptonian on the cheek.

The gesture was so sweet that Kara could not help blushing, forgetting about the game.

“Ok, now is your turn. Don’t hold back.” Giving a second look to the punching machine, the brunette corrected herself. “Okay, maybe hold back a bit, we wouldn’t want to cause any damages.”

And just as expected, Kara threw a punch and the machine started lighting up and making a lot of noise, signalling the highest score of 999 points. When Lena looked at Kara’s expression she saw that it was not exactly what she expected, and then she realised why when she looked at the title won. In that moment, the brunette could not suppress her laugh.

“It’s not funny at all, Lena! I hate this machine… _‘Superman’?_ That is the title that I’ve won, _‘Superman’?!_ ”

“Aw, don’t be so upset about it. It probably just means that you can throw a punch just like Superman. I bet you never tested that with your cousin…”

That made Kara giggle as well and lean in for another kiss. “We both know that is not why it says Superman there, but nonetheless, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better. Come on, your turn to choose a game.”

The women tried after other games, keeping the score too tight. Kara won at skee-ball and pinball, while Lena won the air hockey and guitar hero. That meant that they were still evenly matched before they saw the biggest and most insane game in the whole arcade, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, the Japanese version of the classic DDR. There was no question there, the winner was to be decided while playing DDR. Because Lena was supposed to choose next, she started with a slow song, not wanting to reveal her secret weapon just yet.

Her song choice was “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorrilaz on the second difficulty mode. Lena won the first round only by 30 points and then it was Kara’s turn to pick a song. She browsed the whole library until she found one she liked.

“Oh, I like this song. I didn’t listen to it in ages.”

“Okay, then. Choose the difficulty next.” And Kara did, feeling bold. “Hmm, going for extreme already? Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The second game went to her, not because she knew every note and possible move from Cascada’s “Everytime We Touch”, but because Lena allowed her the small advantage. At the end of that second round, Kara was leading by 18 points. But she was in for a surprise, as it was Lena’s turn to choose the song for the final round.

“Okay, I know what I’m going to pick, are you ready?”

“Oh, I was born ready,” Kara announced.

“Overconfident much? You’re so going to regret this!” Lena threatened and then locked in the song, “Dam daridam” by Joga.

And Kara was nowhere ready for what happened. She was so shocked by Lena’s performance, that she could not keep up even with her super speed. Lena was simply on fire, hitting all the keys and scoring the maximum combo of 315 keys, all on either perfect of marvellous.

“So, does this mean that I’ve won?” Lena asked after she managed to catch her breath, but Kara was still shocked by the development.

“I aaa… I guess so. You won! I don’t know how, but you did… What just happened?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you that it used to be mine and Lex’s favourite game? Hmm, I’m sorry about that, it must have slipped my mind.”

“Yes, sure, you are _so sorry…_ But a win is a win. So, what do you want me to do?”

“For now, just kiss me.”

And Kara did kiss Lena. What she witnessed moments before left her with a new perspective and a whole new level of admiration, which only made her hungry for the brunette. When she locked their lips, Kara knew that she needed more. Taking charge and dominating their kiss, she pressed Lena against the arcade’s railing, pinning her into place. It was extremely hard not to lose all her self-control, but she needed to see that Lena was on the same page as her, so she broke the kiss and took a step back.

“Is that all you want me to do?” she asked, her eyes gleaming with unspoken desire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like I said, the last question is for you. Is that all you want Kara to do?
> 
> I cannot believe I managed to write this chapter without having to change it to mature or even explicit... If you want that for the next chapter (which I'm not sure how I'll be able to avoid, sooner or later it will happen), let me know in the comments.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say some things before you can go on and read the story. I want to apologise for the wait, but with the holiday season and everything going on I hope you can all understand. 
> 
> Then, I want to thank everyone who left a comment on the last chapter and let me know what they wanted to see. I tried to have a little bit of everything, so you will be able to see nervous!Kara, bold!Kara, mischievous!Lena, awed!Lena and other sides of these two ladies. So, winter rose, Iris, NiMonAdun, PenGwen and an3is2, I want to thank all of you for the lovely input, and well, this chapter was written having your ideas in mind! Which I guess means that it’s for you!
> 
> And now for the last part, I have to explain a headcanon which is of some importance. I’m not going to go into great details as to not make this A/N too long, but from all the shows and movies with Superman/Supergirl I’ve watched I realised something. It’s mostly from a scene from Lois & Clark where, if I remember correctly, Clark finds himself in a hospital and needs an injection. Well, my headcanon says that the Kryptonian’s physical appearance is not that different from ours, and for the sake of not being outed for being aliens by a simple touch, their muscles and skin are not concrete-hard. Yes, their skin cannot be pierced by needles, bullets and whatnot, but it is still soft to the touch. Can you imagine how it would feel otherwise? Okay, I’m done!
> 
> P.S: because I loved last time to see what you guys wanted to see, feel free to let me know what do you want from the next chapter. So, look out for the note at the end.

Chapter 4

 

Lena was confident that she would win even before playing the dancing game, her last song choice being the ace up her sleeve. She expected Kara to be shocked, but that was it.

When she asked Kara to kiss her, Lena thought that it would be a simple reward for her performance – albeit a very sweet one. But when their lips found each other, the brunette was taken aback by all the desire Kara put into it. Whatever she did while playing DDR must have really impressed the Kryptonian if her reaction was anything to go by.

Feeling the other woman take control of their kiss with a hunger so obvious in the way Kara’s teeth were nibbling her bottom lip and the way the blonde was gripping her hips, made Lena realise something. When her back hit the arcade’s railing, the CEO already had a plan formed in her brilliant mind. She really liked the way Kara got bold when pushed the right way and she was sure to allow the woman to do that more often, but first… First she wanted to tease the woman some more and bring back the very cute and shy part of her. Just the thought of being able to experience the contrast between the two sides of the woman in her arms was exciting.

When their kiss ended, Lena saw that the bold part of her, the one usually displayed only as Supergirl, was still there. Kara was in front of her, apparently reading some reactions that must have escaped her previously, while being distracted by the way her body reacted to Kara’s initiative.

“Is that all you want me to do?” she heard the blonde say and she could not have asked for a better opening to put her plan in application.

“What are you proposing, Kara Danvers? And since when you got so bold?”

“Maybe I’m like this just around you. You have this effect on me that…” the Kryptonian trailed off.

By the way Kara was shifting from one leg to the other, Lena instantly recognised that she started losing her confident air and was bordering on the line of insecurity. It was up to her to change that.

“Oh, so you are daring around me? Hmmm, that makes me wonder, how far are you willing to go to prove that?”

The CEO put a lot of charm into her words, biting her lower lip and arching a brow to emphasise her point. It did have the desired effect, as Kara had to swallow the nod forming in her throat at the image in front of her. And that told Lena two things. Kara did not know what to do, her shyness taking hold of her. But at the same time there was a part of the blonde that wanted to rise up to the challenge, only to have Lena do more of the wonderful things she was doing to her lower belly, if not for the sake of competition. Having the two sides confronting in a clash of titans that was visible on the blonde’s face made Lena proud of what she achieved, but it also made her own desire grow. She waited impatiently for the Kryptonian to make a decision and smiled widely when she saw what that was.

“I’m not afraid of a challenge, miss Luthor, and I’m willing to prove that.”

Oh, Kara was game. She must have realised that Lena started all that just to be able to have a flushed Kara in front of her. That was why she did not play in her trap. And on top of that, she must have known Lena’s hidden desire to let someone take control, someone she really trusted.

 _“She must have known,”_ Lena thought. _“Why use her Supergirl voice otherwise? Why call me,”_ she had to gulp before even forming that thought, _“miss Luthor and not Lena?”_ But if Lena knew one thing, she knew that she could not lose her advantage because of one small word – even if that word sounded extremely sexy in Kara’s powerful and dominant voice.

“Does that mean that you wouldn’t be opposed to play a little game?”

“Ah, what game are we talking about?”

“Well, if you’re so _daring_ , why not some Truth or Dare?”

At the mention of the game, Kara thought back to when she was a teenager and went to parties with Alex. She remembered how she would always choose truth, because Alex’s friends were sometimes taking the game too far. For a second she wondered if Lena used to be like that, the mischievousness from her eyes surely suggested it. If the game would turn out like anything she knew, it would be better to start with something simple.

“Okay. Truth then.”

“Truth? You disappoint me, _Supergirl._ But don’t worry, I can still get something that I want from this.” Lena took a moment to consider what she wanted to know most about her date and when she had her question, Kara knew that it was not going to be good by the way Lena grinned at her.

“So truth: where is your favourite place to be kissed?”

Kara gulped audibly at the question and wanted to shy away, but something in Lena’s eyes told her not to. The woman was looking promising at her, waiting with bated breath for an answer. Even if the question might have been considered too forward coming from someone else, this was Lena Luthor, her date, asking for that information. Her possible girlfriend – was it too weird to think of Lena as her girlfriend, even if they did not really talk about where they stood? – who wanted to know. And maybe if she knew, she would use that information. Just that thought alone was enough to convince Kara to go ahead and tell the brunette. But that still did not mean that she was entirely comfortable saying the words out loud.

“Well, uhm-,” Lena caught her hesitation and stepped closer until they were almost touching, an encouraging look on her face. “My- my neck, I guess.”

“You guess?” The CEO asked, her right brow raised, throwing her a questioning look.

“Yeah I-I guess,” Kara said on the release of her breath, just like when firing a gun. Not that she knew how to do that, or that she was so tense as if she would be holding one.

But that smirk – the characteristic smirk – that Lena was sporting from the moment she heard the blonde’s response was threatening to end Kara. And if that would not do it, what the CEO did next surely would.

“A guess is not enough. I supposed I have to see for myself.”

And Lena did. She started kissing Kara’s jaw, making the Kryptonian let out a gasp of air and instantly close her eyes in the moment she felt soft, hot lips connect with her skin. After leaving a trail of kisses on the blonde’s strong jawline, Lena dipped her head lower and made her way to Kara’s pulse point. When she could feel the Kryptonian’s blood flow at incredibly rapid speeds underneath her lips, she knew that she reached the spot. The only thing left was to test if the woman did speak the truth, so she allowed her teeth to scrape the skin where her lips connected with her neck.

When she felt Kara intake a sharp breath and grip her hips in search for any kind of support, Lena knew that she was on the right track. She then allowed herself to be a little bit more rough and after another slow and warm kiss, she dug her teeth into the Kryptonian’s unexpectedly soft skin. Lena was aware that her bite could not possibly hurt Kara, but just as she expected, the Kryptonian could still feel it, could still get turned on by the rough treatment and the claim it implied. And Lena was positive because of the moan that escaped the blonde’s lips.

Enjoying the reactions she was pulling from Kara, Lena soothed the place with a soft kiss and a flick of her tongue, and then bit again. Somehow she managed to take the woman by surprise a second time. When she felt Kara almost going limp in her arms, she pulled back, ignoring both the protest of her own body and the disappointed whimper the blonde let out.

“Well, I guess that means that you spoke the truth, after all.”

“Did you,” Kara made a pause to recover her voice, “ahem – not believe me?”

“Oh, I did, but I just needed an excuse to do that.” Kara flushed visibly at that, but Lena decided not to point it out. “So, your turn now. Or mine, depends how you want to see things.”

“Right,” the blonde pulled herself back together. “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare,” the brunette responded with a spark in her eyes.

Kara was taken aback. Not because the CEO chose dare, that made perfectly good sense, but because she did not know what to do. The only dares she knew involved asking the other person to do something silly and equally embarrassing, like pretending to be a chicken for 15 seconds and pick up corn grains from the floor with an imaginary beak. She almost laughed remembering how Alex looked the last time she did that. But those kind of dares were not really suited for the atmosphere they had going on, so she had to think of something else.

After a quick search through her memories that came back empty, Kara turned her attention to the objects around the room, looking for something, _anything_ she could use. X-raying one of the stands where they were serving gelato and other Italian desserts, she was rewarded with the best idea she could have had. After telling Lena to wait and a quick run to the chiller, she came back with a small plastic container holding some cherries inside.

When Lena saw what was in Kara’s hand, she cocked an eyebrow, asking a silent _“Really, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”_ because she never imagined that the blonde could come up with _that_ idea. Even so, she was up for the challenge, and with a bit of luck she could make it backfire.

“Lena, I dare you to tie a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue.”

“Challenge accepted,” said the CEO with a wink and then took a cherry from the box.

Using her teeth, she broke the stem from the cherry and then took it on her tongue. She moved it around in her mouth for a bit, as to test how to proceed next. After she had an idea formed in her mind, she used her tongue to fold the stem in two, creating an X shape crossover at the end. She then held one end with her teeth and used the tip of her tongue to push the other one through the loop. Releasing one end she quickly caught the other one and gripped it with her teeth. So far everything seemed pretty easy, but now she had to actually form the tie. She tried using her tongue to pull the long stem until the knot would be fully tied, but failed a couple of times.

After she failed the third time, a sudden thought crossed her mind, that she looked extremely silly while doing that. With a quick glance at Kara – who’s mouth was open and she was sporting a very impressed look – she realised that it was quite the opposite, thing that motivated her to complete her dare. Trying a slightly different approach, Lena used her tongue to push the wide knot away from her mouth while one end was still in between her teeth, which did the trick and tightened the knot. To prove her skill, she opened her mouth and kept the stem knot on her tongue, showing Kara the end result.

But the Kryptonian still could not believe that she actually managed to complete the dare. Without actually thinking her words through, she blurted out.

“You actually did it! Wow, I never expected you to know how to use your tongue like that. Did you practice before?”

Hearing Kara’s words, Lena tilted her had to one side and arched her brow haughtily, a smile dangled at the corner of her lips.

At first, Kara did not know what caused the CEO’s reaction, but after a few moments of contemplation, her last words rang in her hear over and over again. All of a sudden it was too hot in the room and she could swear that the sun’s surface seemed cooler. She did not know what to say or do, other than shy away and avoid Lena’s stare, which really did not help.

The CEO, enjoying the new development of things, thought that it would be quite rude to leave the question unanswered. She slowly touched Kara’s chin with two fingers and pulled her head up to meet her eyes. Licking her bottom lip for emphasis, she added.

“I did have _a lot_ of practice. Want to see?”

Kara could not lie, the offer was too tempting to refuse, but she did not know what to do, having zero experience in the domain. But she trusted Lena to know what to do and guide her, so, in the lack of words she did the next best thing and nodded her approval.

Seeing the eager woman, another idea formed in the CEO’s mind, but first she needed to offer Kara some incentive. So, she leaned in and captured the Kryptonian’s lips into a mind-numbing kiss, asking for permission to deepen it without hesitating even for a second. When Kara allowed her access, Lena intended on showing the blonde exactly how she knew to use her tongue. She instantly searched and found Kara’s and started massaging it with her own.

When their tongues first brushed together, Kara could not help a moan that was muted by their kiss. All the blonde wanted to do was to let go of everything else and enjoy what Lena was doing to her, but she was not keen on being idle. Not having too much experience, she settled with trying to mimic what the CEO was doing. Before long, they were caught in a passionate kiss that left her head dizzy and her lower belly ache with desire.

Seeing that Kara was getting comfortable and started wanting even more, Lena decided that it would be a good idea to set her plan in motion. She braced herself for what she wanted to do, knowing that she would regret it instantly. The only comfort was that it would be even worse for Kara. So, with one final brush of tongue over the blonde’s lips, she pulled back, breaking their kiss and embrace, and took two steps back.

The soft, but broken cry that escaped the blonde made her regret doing it for a few seconds, but she also knew that it would make Kara listen to what she would ask next.

It took the Kryptonian a moment to realise what happened and when she did, her only thought was _“What did I do wrong?”_ She kept repeating it in her mind until it was not only there, but she also voiced it out loud.

Lena knew that was coming, so she was prepared with an answer.

“You did nothing wrong, Kara, trust me. But we didn’t finish out game now, did we?”

“T-The game? But I thought we…”

“And we will,” Lena promised, offering the blonde a sincere and comforting look, “but first I need you to choose what you want next.”

Kara’s impulse was to say “ _You”_ , but she decided to go with the next best thing. “Dare! I choose dare!”

The sudden response from Kara caught Lena by surprise, but she also could not help thinking how good of a job she must have done if she got _Kara_ to be that bold! Wanting to test how bold, Lena had another idea, one that she knew she would enjoy _a lot._

Taking a few steps towards a jukebox 20 feet away, Lena entered a dime and queued a song. She walked back to Kara, took her hand and backed both of them until she touched the air hockey table with the back of her thighs. In the moment the song’s first notes started playing, Lena told Kara what the dare was.

“I dare you to do a striptease for me.”

For a moment Kara thought that she misheard Lena, but she realised that she did not when she recognised Joe Cocker’s _“You can leave your hat on”_ playing.

Kara was fine with kissing Lena, that was familiar territory, but doing a striptease for the brunette was… intimidating. She was awkward and inexperienced Kara Danvers, so how was she supposed to do a strip _tease_ on the sexy, charming and very sensual Lena Luthor? That was out of the question! She did not even know where she should start from, how to move, what to say, where to stop… and she could go on.

But at the same time she wanted to do that for the CEO. Plus there was a very small part of her that was thrilled to do it, pushing her to start dancing. There was also the fact that the song was playing, but what made Kara accept was the hopeful way Lena was looking at her. The way her eyes were silently pleading and the way her teeth dug into her bottom lip sent a shiver through Kara’s whole body.

Before she could realise what was happening, Kara closed the distance between them and started moving in rhythm with the music.

When Lena saw that Kara moved in front of her, she could not believe her luck. Without realising, she positioned herself in a spot where Kara’s body was blocking the light in front of her. The ceiling lights were either off or dimmed down and the main light source was a blue light coming from a spot situated on the floor and pointed towards them. And Lena could not be more grateful for that, because she could see Kara’s dark silhouette on a blue background, thing that highlighted her muscular features.

In the moment the blonde started moving, Lena’s attention was drawn to her hips. When she caught Lena’s gaze, Kara could not help smiling. Realising that the brunette was enjoying what she was _trying_ to do caused Kara to slightly jump with obvious giddiness.

Wanting to take advantage of the good start she had, she turned her back at Lena and put a bit more sway in her hips. Hearing a small giggle escape the CEO made Kara bolder, so she moved her hands to draw Lena’s attention to them and then she moved them up to her shirt and started unbuttoning it. She unbuttoned it until the top of her ivory bra with black lace adorning the sides of the cup was visible. Hearing Lena’s moan when the woman saw the area where her hands were, made Kara proud that she was able to get that reaction from her date.

Wanting to see how much she could push Lena, Kara turned back to face her, one hand on her hip, emphasising what was so close to the brunette, but at the same time out of reach. After she got Lena’s attention where she wanted it, she went and opened another button, revealing her bra completely.

She saw Lena’s arm muscles twitch as to stop her from reaching out, and in order to show her that she needed to behave and settle with watching, Kara spun again, rewarding the CEO with the view of her back.

Lena realised what Kara was doing and decided to conduct herself, otherwise she would not be able to see anything.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Happy with the response she got, Kara turned around and decided to rewards the brunette for showing restraint. Slowly, much slower than Lena wanted, she opened all the other buttons of her shirt, revealing her torso. Lena did not have time to admire the new view as Kara took hold of the both sides of her collar and started pulling her shirt down her back, revealing her bare shoulders.

The Kryptonian could see Lena getting more and more impatient, but also that her desire was increasing. The woman seemed so fascinated by what Kara was doing, that it was unbelievable to the blonde. That thought and also her wish to see how Lena would react next, made Kara take out her shirt completely. When she unveiled only her bra-cladded upper body, Kara was rewarded with a loud moan and the sight of the brunette’s mouth slightly agape. Deciding to take the dare a bit forward, Kara approached the brunette, touched her knees and kept moving her palms up on her thighs.

On top of the new sensations, Lena was treated with the best view of Kara’s breasts. It took all her willpower not to touch them, but she knew that if she did, the repercussions would be severe. So she inhaled a long breath and pulled her eyes up to meet Kara’s. Except that she did not make it that far, her gaze stopping at Kara’s bottom lip pulled in between her teeth. The only thing she could do to stop herself from reacting was to let out a whimper, feeling the ache in her lower belly grow. She hoped Kara would soon take pity on her, otherwise she did not know what she would do.

But Kara did not think that teasing was enough and decided to make things even more unbearable. It was Lena who asked to be teased, so she was simply giving her date what she wanted. Realising that by now Lena most probably wanted something else, Kara decided to take advantage of that. She moved her hands closer to where Lena wanted them and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. They were so close together that they could feel the other’s body heat, but not close enough to be touching. Kara took a moment to admire Lena’s chest rapidly rising and falling in sync with her breath and she could swear that the brunette could die of anticipation, not knowing what Kara would do next. Deciding not to keep the suspense going, the blonde leaned in, an inch away from Lena’s ear and whispered.

“Is this what you wanted?”

Lena had to let out a breath she did not know she was holding before being able to respond.

“Y-yes, that’s what I dared you to do.”

Kara had to give it to her. Despite the torment she’s been through, Lena was able to speak almost as good as normal. The blonde knew that if the places would have been reversed she would be in a far worse state. But the way her body reacted when they came closer told Kara that it was not quite over. She knew that Lena was not going to be satisfied with just that, not in the condition she was now. And that was it, that was all that Kara needed to know. She turned her attention back to Lena’s ear and asked again.

“But it’s not what you want now, is it?”

The blonde saw that she was on the right track when Lena’s pupils dilated and her heart rate spiked. Having super-hearing and super-vision came in handy in situations like this one.

When Lena did not respond, Kara looked at her, demanding an answer. But Lena seemed to be beyond words – finally – her thoughts wrapped around the silent thing Kara was not saying, so she gently shook her head.

“Then what do you want?” Kara finally asked and pressed a soft kiss on Lena’s neck, making the CEO’s breath to hitch and her hips to jerk forwards in an involuntary movement.

Lena Luthor usually prided herself with having quite the amount of self-control and restraint. It was crucial in her line of work to control every reaction of her body, no matter how conflicting it was with her brain and inner-self. In some cases she also had to control what she was thinking and feeling in order not to ruin whatever she was doing. Now was one of those cases. Her mind and body were screaming at her to do something, to touch, to kiss, to bite, to pull, to turn, to rip, anything but to stay still and watch. But as Kara was getting bolder and bolder, Lena’s thoughts were becoming dirtier with every minute that passed. She knew that she was at the edge of her restraint, and in the moment she felt Kara’s lips on her neck, Lena thought that she was going to break. She managed to stop her traitorous body from listening to her own thoughts and take control, even though she could not stop her hips from thrusting forward into the empty air. All that she wanted was to touch and to _have_ Kara, and if the blonde did not decide to allow her that soon, she swore that she would react regardless, dare or no dare.

Lena kept telling herself that it would all be better if she could just hold on for a little longer, but she was also convinced that at this point anything would drive her over the edge. She felt herself slipping with every breath that hit her neck and she was ready to give in when the music stopped. She did not realise it at first, but there was a muffled thought at the back of her head saying _“the song is over, what are you waiting for?”_. She was so dizzy from desire that she did not caught all of it, but there was a part that stood out, _“it’s over… it’s over… it’s over.”_

“Music’s over!” Lena said out loud as to familiarise her ears with the clear sound of her voice, and in the next instant she let go.

Her arms shot to Kara’s hips and pulled the blonde into her arms. She was expecting a surprised reaction from the woman, so she dipped her head forward and swallowed the moan. Without even asking for permission, they both deepened their kiss, and before they knew it they got lost into a passionate kiss, Kara’s hands tangled in Lena’s hair, trying to pull her even closer.

But for Lena Luthor, that was not enough, not after Kara teased her like that. She gripped the blonde’s thighs tighter and with s swift motion changed their position, lifting Kara up on the hockey table. Before attempting to swap their positions, Lena had a moment of doubt that she could not move Kara, but the blonde was not heavier than any other normal human.

The sudden movement took Kara by surprise, but she was pleased to let the brunette on top, enjoying the weight and pressure of her body. After that impressive display of strength, Kara expected Lena to never stop kissing and touching her, but instead, the brunette was looking for any signs of hesitation on the blonde’s face. Her hands were hovering on top of Kara’s exposed abdomen, her lips were inches away from her own, her eyes holding her gaze and showing a type of affection Kara thought she was only imagining. She knew that the CEO was asking for permission to go forward. She tried finding words, but nothing came close to expressing what she felt, so instead of wasting time with trying to find a way to _say_ what she wanted, she decided to _show_ her instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, do you guys want me to describe what happens next - but that would raise the rating to Mature - or do you want me to just skip that part and get going with the next morning? Let me know your thoughts down below. If you _really_ don’t want the rating to change, please say so, otherwise I would like to continue from where they left off, but at the same time I also want to be considerate of your preferences.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I just want to say how amazing all of you are! Really, I don’t know when was the last time when I felt this good, and it was all because you let me know you appreciate my work.  
> And to prove how grateful I am for all your kind words (an3is2 and alexawynters if you could die from happiness, then I think that your comments would be able to make that happen for me) here’s another update.  
> Okay, now before you actually get to it… A lot of you said that you want the two women to continue, and I made that happen. But, giving the fact that in the last 56 hours I slept 11, I got carried away and I think at some point I got explicit with the description. So, just to be on the safe side I’ll bump the rating now to Explicit. Okay, so mind that fact before reading next.  
> Well, that’s all my rambling. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading and let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
> 
> P.S. don’t worry an3is2, I did my best to keep things in the same sweet and sensitive atmosphere created before.

Chapter 5

 

Kara Danvers was trapped underneath Lena’s body, and there was no other place she would rather be. After completing her dare and doing a strip tease, the CEO was not the only person left with a desire for more. She was keen on making the next move and showing Lena her desires, but she also did not know how to do that.

Kara was not really a stranger to intimate relationships, but this was something completely new to her. It was not only the fact that Lena was a woman like her, but everything about their new development felt different.

She never felt her body crave for attention like it did now, but on top of the physical desires was something else. She could not exactly name it or to even begin understanding it. Kara just knew that every time she looked into Lena’s emerald eyes that feeling made itself known by spreading warmth through her chest and making her stomach flutter.

The blonde vaguely remembered a human term for what she was feeling. Alex called it “having butterflies in your stomach”. Kara did not understand why her brain was focusing on idioms instead on the beautiful woman pinning her on the table, it was just the way it always happened. Okay, maybe it was because when she first heard the expression she cried, but that was _not_ her fault! Being fourteen and learning about a new culture as she was going along was not an easy feat, mind you. And before Alex had the chance to explain to her that humans were not _actually_ eating the butterflies in order to have the fluttering sensation in their stomachs, well, she burst into tears because she really loved the beautiful tiny insects.

Stopping her line of thought before she could get emotional and give Lena the wrong impression, Kara returned to the present time. Apparently thinking about a feeling could accentuate its effects, because the blonde felt her abdominal muscles contract. With a glance between their bodies, Kara realised that she was wrong, her body was just reacting to Lena’s touch, and felt herself blush for thinking that it was her memory that caused the change.

It was ridiculous to think of anything other than the woman on top of her, but she understood that it was due to the fact that she was nervous. She wanted to continue what she started, but her brain was keen on finding various ways to stall her.

Okay, she also realised that she did not make Lena wait as long as it seemed to her. Due to her super-speed, Kara was able to think at incredibly fast rates whenever she needed, and luckily her brain decided that now was one of those times. She was glad for that, but realised that it was time to decide for herself.

Focusing back on Lena she saw hesitation in her eyes, despite the way the woman’s hands were caressing her abdomen. It was cute the way Lena did not want to pressure her into anything, but Kara could feel the way Lena’s body was filled with tension, just like a fully drawn bow. And, to be honest, she wanted the same things as the CEO, despite her timidity. Letting go of any thoughts that might have stopped her, Kara lifted her chin and lazily kissed the brunette.

That was all the incentive Lena needed to grip the blonde’s hips and return the kiss. Before long, both women needed more, and when Kara’s hands wrapped around Lena’s lower back, trying to pull her jacket and shirt off to reveal some skin, Lena realised that the Kryptonian was done with taking things slow.

Kara managed to take the CEO’s jacket off and to lift her shirt halfway through before realising that in order to have the woman naked, she either had to rip all the buttons apart – she could not concentrate long enough to open all of them – or she had to give up the pressure of Lena’s body on her own for as long as it would take to lift her shirt up completely. After balancing her options, Kara decided that she _could not_ let them separate even for a couple of seconds. It was already bad enough that she had to interrupt their kiss to speak.

“Lena, how much do you like your shirt?”

“I’m quite fond of it, why?” The brunette did not follow, Kara’s touches managing to steal her attention.

“Because I need it off, and the fastest way is to rip it apart.”

Lena’s pupils dilated at that prospect. She would do anything to see Kara’s display of strength, even give up one of her favourite shirts.

“Forget what I said. Do it!”

The only thing Kara could see before Lena’s lips were on hers again was a newfound desire in the brunette’s eyes, and wondered how that was even possible. She berated herself for almost falling into another trail of unnecessary thoughts and refocused on what Lena allowed her to do. Without hesitating again, the blonde took hold of the shirt’s hem and started pulling left and right, making the buttons fly out due to the pressure put on them.

Giving Lena’s previous reaction, Kara expected her to enjoy getting her clothes ripped off, but she miscalculated just how much. In the moment the CEO’s upper body was completely naked, Kara felt Lena break their kiss and move to her neck. The brunette did not allow Kara to accommodate with a few kisses like before, but started nibbling and biting at the spot where neck met shoulder.

Lena’s rough treatment and the new sensations Kara discovered by feeling the CEO’s body offered to her for touch left her craving for more. Having Lena half naked was not enough, so Kara found her hands moving lower, from a taunt abdomen to the high waist of Lena’s pants. She was about to open them up when the brunette stopped the attention on her neck and pulled away, resting her entire weight on her elbows. In an instant, Kara retreated her hands, panic taking over her.

“I’m sorry Lena, I didn’t… I shouldn’t have. _Please,_ I’m so sorry.”

If Kara would have been able to read Lena’s expression, she would have known not to panic.

“Kara… Kara!” It took the brunette two tries to get the woman’s attention. “Just breathe, alright? Everything is fine – more than fine,” she corrected, “but I just…”

“You just what? What did I do?”

“Nothing, Kara. You were great. Are great! But I wanted this to…” It was the second time in a row when Lena could not find her words. And even when she did, something was amiss. It was unlike her to stumble upon her words because she always knew what she wanted – it was a quality Kara liked very much in her. But now… Now she was acting like Kara, really.

Despite her previous concerns, the blonde could not help being amused by the CEO.

“Wait, Lena Luthor at a loss for words, fumbling to voice her thoughts? Well, I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

Managing to relax a bit under the teasing, Lena realised that they could not return to their past activity without talking about what made her cause the interruption, no matter how much she wanted that. Bracing herself for an emotional conversation, Lena pulled back, standing in front of Kara who followed her.

“Yes, well you can continue teasing me, or you can find out why I stopped.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I-,” the CEO closed her eyes and let out a sigh, not sure how to continue.

But Kara knew. She knew exactly what to do to help her, so she took Lena’s palms into her own, brought them up to her lips and gently kissed the back of each one. The extremely affectionate gesture was all Lena needed to continue, knowing that Kara most probably reciprocated her feelings to a certain degree. With a genuine smile as a form of thanks, she was able to continue.

“Look Kara, you already know that I do not have that many friends, and even less people that I can trust. So, all my past relationships were only about physical attraction and taking and offering pleasure. I don’t want to be the same between us… It isn’t the same! So I– I did not want our first time to be on a hockey table in an old arcade. I wanted to take my time and… and show you how much I care about you Kara. I wanted to show you what you manage to do to me and to express what I cannot with words. Whenever I see the way you look at me there is this feeling sitting on my chest that makes it hard to breathe. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

It took a lot of effort for Lena to open up and make herself vulnerable again, but with Kara she was either all in or not at all. She did not want any middle ground. Plus, she knew that she was already falling for the blonde, and if the other woman could not return her feelings, it was better that she knew from the beginning.

Kara could not believe her ears. Lena just told her that she wanted more than just something casual, she wanted her, she trusted her, she _cared_ about her, and the blonde felt the same. It was not a simple crush that she had on the CEO, it was a feeling that was growing into something more with each moment like this one that they shared. Realising that, she had to tell Lena.

“I care about you _a lot_ , Lena. You said that you did not have many friends or people that you trust and I understand and relate to that. But there’s something else as well… You see, Clark was born on Krypton, but he’s not really Kryptonian – if you know what I want to say.” Once Lena nodded her approval, the blonde continued. “He was raised on Earth so he acts like any regular human, and I feel like I am alone. I was lucky enough to have the Danvers' accept me and offer me absolutely everything, starting with their name and love. I am grateful to them for that, but I cannot deny that I miss Krypton and the life I had there with my family. I know now that I would never trade this life in order to go back, but I also cannot help missing home. But when I am with you, I don’t miss it anymore. When I am around you I feel that I have both.”

Kara studied Lena’s expression, thinking that she might have said too much too soon, but she could not read what Lena was thinking. She could feel anxiety creep up on her and she fought with her brain’s urge of jumping to the worst conclusion. She could not let it slide, she had to know what Lena thought.

“So, uhm, say something?”

“Wait, Clark Kent is Superman?” The CEO teased, a wide grin on her face.

“Lena! Is that all that you got from-“

The blonde could not finish her thought, as she was silenced by Lena’s kiss. When they pulled back, the brunette was serious though.

“You are my home too, Kara.” The two women got lost staring into each other’s eyes until the Kryptonian felt Lena’s hand on her back and then heard her continue. “Speaking of home… Do you want to get out of here and…?”

“Yes! And I know a really fast method to get there.” The blonde said excitedly and pulled Lena into her arms with the intent of flying them back to her apartment.

“Wait, aren’t you forgetting something? Our clothes maybe?”

Embarrassed that she forgot such a crucial thing, Kara picked up her shirt and Lena’s jacket. Once they were fully clothed – or as much as possible considering the fact that Lena’s shirt was ruined – the Kryptonian took them back to her apartment.

 

***

 

Kara entered her apartment through the open window, despite the possibility that someone might see them. The next thing she did was to let Lena go and miss the feeling in the moment the CEO was out of her arms.

Wanting to be a good host and to find something to do at the same time, Kara started walking towards the kitchen.

“Do you want a cup of tea or…” She trailed off when she saw Lena’s expression and quickly corrected herself. “Or I guess we could skip tea.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” were the last words the blonde heard before it all became a haze.

Kara’s senses were overwhelmed in the moment the CEO closed the distance between them and crushed their lips together. She felt Lena’s hands searching for skin, while her own were gripping the brunette’s hips, trying to anchor herself back to reality and not get lost into a sea of sensations.

At some point she thought she registered walking, but could not be sure until her legs hit the bed frame and felt Lena’s hands apply pressure on her shoulders. Realising the brunette’s intent, she let herself fall on the bed taking the CEO with her.

The feeling was so good and Kara wondered for a brief second why they did not do that sooner. A thought at the back of her head reminded her that they were supposed to take things slow and enjoy what they were doing. But as much as Kara enjoyed Lena’s treatment, she wanted to return part of those feelings, up to her best ability.

A thought crossed the blonde’s mind and a second later she was already reversing their position. Somewhere in the middle of all that she also broke their kiss and now her lips were on Lena’s neck. Kara never bothered herself with the power play – well, maybe only when she did a bit of research prior to their date – but she could not deny that being on top of one of the most powerful and intelligent women in the world, having her in such a vulnerable position and with her throat exposed did appeal to her. As soon as the thought formed, Kara felt embarrassed by it, as she never believed that she would ever feel like that.

When Kara arrived to Earth and experienced the effect of the yellow sun, she learned an extremely important lesson in restraint. It took a bit of practice to muster keeping her power in control. Some parts were easier. It took her less than a week to stop crushing everything she touched. What came harder to her was to keep her emotions in control. She was aware that if she let her feelings have the better of her, someone would always get hurt. The closest she came to hurt someone was in high-school when a jock tried to force Alex to go out with him, despite the clear refuse he received.

In the moment he forcefully grabbed Alex’s arm Kara was on to him, second away from breaking his arm. But Alex was ready for that and stopped her before she could hurt him, despite the fact that he surely deserved it. It was that moment when the blonde realised the consequences of getting angry or frustrated. And that lesson on control formed her personality.

She was always a kind, considerate and passionate person. The thought of dominating or using any of her abilities to manipulate someone never crossed her mind. Except… except that now she could clearly read Lena’s subtle submissive acts. The brunette was not scared of her and even allowed her to take control of the situation. And Kara desperately wanted to offer the CEO what she wanted.

But it was more than that, the blonde realised. She wanted Lena, and that desire was only growing with every minute that passed. The wish to let that desire take over her was something completely new, and Kara was afraid to lose that carefully constructed self-control. She wanted Lena, but she was too scared of hurting the brunette.

That fear must have gotten past her barriers because Lena caught her insecurities and instantly knew why Kara was hesitating.

“It’s alright, Kara, I trust you.”

“But I– I might hurt you. I… cannot.”

The blonde could not meet Lena’s eyes so she pulled out of the CEO’s embrace.

“Do you still want this?” Lena simply asked.

Kara looked at her with a serious expression, but the brunette could see a lot of conflicted feelings underneath. The blonde’s eyes held an unspoken affection behind them that alone threatened to end the CEO, while her puckered forehead and almost desperate tone of voice told Lena the pain Kara was feeling for not trusting herself to continue.

“More than anything I ever wanted in my entire life.”

Hearing the blonde’s words made Lena realise that every other moment in her life paled in comparison to when Kara expressed her affection for her. And in that moment nothing else mattered. Nothing but being with the woman in front of her and sharing herself completely.

“Then let me…” were the only words she spoke before climbing on top of Kara and putting all those feelings behind a kiss.

A kiss that washed all of Kara’s insecurities and made everything in the world, apart from the two of them, fade away. All those heavy feelings, all those spoken and unspoken fears, and all the thoughts that were not Lena vanished when the brunette started undressing her.

Lena carefully unbuttoned and took off the blonde’s shirt before moving to Kara’s pants. The brunette then gently started caressing the blonde, roaming her hands over Kara’s body. She settled for a slow rhythm that would allow her to memorise every curve. Lena was tempted to linger longer at the blonde’s hips, but as she let her nails slightly dig into the skin there, her attention was pulled to Kara’s chest by the woman’s sudden intake of breath.

Lena continued exploring Kara’s body, eliciting a giggle as she was tickling Kara’s sides on her way to the woman’s bra straps. The brunette then reached behind the blonde’s back and opened the bra, exposing Kara’s breasts to the open air. Having a look at what present she unravelled, Lena could clearly see the blonde’s arousal written in the way the stiff points of the woman’s nipples were pointing up in the air. The sight of Kara’s wonderful breasts sent a spike of pleasure through her own body, but at the same time Lena realised that something was missing. Keen on righting that mistake she cupped one soft breast into her hand, while at the same time taking the other one in her mouth, carefully avoiding touching the nipples.

She was rewarded with a beautiful moan that escaped Kara’s mouth and her back arching in search for more contact. Lena continued applying soft pressure until the feeling became unbearable for the blonde and she had to ask for more. It was clear that her ministrations were only making Kara want more and more by the way her voice cracked when she tried to speak.

Kara sought to tell the brunette exactly what she wanted and how she wanted it, but it was getting increasingly harder to think, so the only word that came out was a desperate “Please…”.

But Lena did not need more, knowing exactly what Kara was asking her. Deciding not to torture the woman any longer, Lena ran her tongue over the nipple, laving it and grazing her teeth over the sensitive flesh, while at the same time she took the other one in between her thumb and forefinger, trying to apply the same amount of pressure. She realised that her efforts were definitely appreciated when Kara bent her head back and her voice broke while shouting Lena’s name to the ceiling. As much as the brunette loved hearing all the moans she pulled out before, nothing compared to the way her named rolled out of Kara’s tongue in that desperate way. It was like the blonde put all the new sensations her body was feeling behind her name, as well as an unspoken request for more.

But Kara was not the only one wanting more. Lena was feeling her own desire to make the other woman come for her grow and all that she wanted was to be as close as possible to Kara. She switched her mouth to the other breast, while one of her hands went under Kara’s back to hold her up and the other one continued applying torturous pressure to the other nipple. As much as Lena wanted to stretch the moment for longer and to memorise every flick of tongue that made Kara moan, the blonde was getting more and more impatient, if her pleas were of any indication.

With a great deal of willpower, Kara managed to look down at Lena, and in the second her eyes met those green pools she realised the mistake she made. Seeing the brunette do wonderful things to her body and especially the affection behind the slightest of movements made her head fuzzy again until her mind switched off, the only awareness she had was of Lena’s lips and teeth on her skin. Before she could get completely lost into her desires, Kara managed to let out a string of words that were intended to be formed into a coherent sentence.

“Plea-… Lena plea-se. More, I want… _Need_ more. _Need you…_ ”

Lena knew what Kara needed, but she was not finished yet. Still she decided to show a bit of mercy and so she lifted her knee where the blonde needed the most, trying to offer her a bit of release. When her knee touched the cloth of Kara’s panties she felt the blonde’s hips give an involuntary twitch and wetness staining her skin. Lena could not stop herself from imagining how it would be to feel that on the tip of her fingers. She felt her own body react to the prospect of that and an intoxicating kind of heat flowed to her lower belly. Giving in to her desires, Lena let go of Kara’s breast with a loud pop sound and then continued spreading kisses on the blonde’s skin, heading for that sweet place they both wanted her to reach.

Gathering a bit of self-control, Lena slowed her pace and layered Kara’s abdomen with kisses, feeling the muscles contract under her lips. When she lifted her head to look at the blonde, she saw the woman almost begging her to end her torment. It was clear that Kara was slowly losing her self-control by the way she twisted the sheets in her hands, trying to restrain herself from directing the brunette lower on her body.

Any other day, Lena would have wanted to see how far she could push Kara, but now it was different. Now there was nothing more she wanted than to offer the woman pleasure, so she retreated the knee from between Kara’s legs and dropped there instead. She realised that she did the right choice when she saw Kara’s pupils dilate as her hands took hold of the woman’s panties and pulled them off completely.

Enticed by the view, Lena held Kara’s gaze as she took the first step and ran her tongue on the inner muscles of Kara’s thighs, avoiding the place that was already pulsating with need. Lena then moved to the other thigh and after a few agonizing moments, she allowed her tongue to drift lightly over the inner crease where thigh met hip.

That pulled a whimper muffled by the way Kara dug her teeth into her bottom lip, trying but failing to stop her hands from leaving the bed sheets and rest on the back of Lena’s neck. With the last shred of control she had, though, Kara kept herself from directing the woman, knowing that it was Lena the one who decided when she would get the pleasure she so badly wanted.

Luckily for her, Lena realised that Kara was so close to the point of breaking and that was all it took to wrap her arms under the blonde’s thighs and pull her core on to her tongue. In the moment her tongue met the soft flesh both women let out a loud moan, and Lena was greeted with a fresh wave of wetness that touched her chin. That only made her want to be able to taste Kara, so she let her tongue dip through the blonde’s folds and settle at her entrance.

Above her, Kara was a whimpering mess that was not able to form any words apart from something that sounded like Lena’s name. The fresh waves of arousal that hit her tongue, combined with the way Kara’s hips were buckling, told Lena that it would not take long to drive the blonde over the edge. The CEO redoubled her efforts at the prospect of making the other woman come for her and replaced her tongue with her hand, moving her mouth upwards towards Kara’s clit. In the instant her lips wrapped around the small shaft, her two fingers were coated with a fresh round of Kara’s arousal, which made the next part easier.

Determined to bring Kara to an orgasm, Lena increased the pace she settled before, running her tongue up and down on the blonde’s clit and pushing the fingers inside. She felt blissful heat surround her digits and could not help curve them upwards.

That was all that it took for the blonde to go over the edge and she came with Lena’s sweet name on her lips. The CEO then slowly helped the blonde come back from her peak, retreating her fingers and languidly running her tongue through Kara’s folds.

It took the blonde quite some time to be able to form clear thoughts and even longer to find her voice. Her breath was still coming in rapid waves, which made it difficult to talk. But Lena understood what Kara wanted by the pleading look in her eyes, the same eyes that were threatening to close due to the languor that was taking over her. Wanting to spare the blonde from any other efforts, Lena pulled herself back up and spoke first, smiling gently.

“It’s okay, Kara. Just go to sleep.”

“But I.have.to… You need…” The blonde was already slurring her words and slowly drifting to sleep.

Kissing her girlfriend – Lena thought that making love to Kara counted as establishing that they were girlfriends – and wrapping her arms around her, Lena added.

“I already have all I need right here.”

She was not sure if Kara heard her before falling asleep, but decided to follow the blonde’s example and go to sleep as well.

 

***

 

The next morning, it was Lena who woke up first. She actually expected it, due to the fact that she never slept too much and giving Kara’s tiredness from the night before. And, to be honest, she enjoyed watching her girlfriend sleep.

She looked so peaceful in the morning light, her face nuzzled in Lena’s neck. Realising that none of them were covered by the crumpled blanket, the brunette turned the attention to the Kryptonian’s body. Being both wrapped in desire the previous night, Lena did not have the chance to admire that lean body in as much detail as she wanted, so she took advantage of her girlfriend’s deep sleep to do it now. Gently she traced Kara’s muscles with the back of her hand, taking the time to map her body to memory. When she reached the blonde’s hips she ran the tips of her fingers back and forth between them, enjoying the flat plane of Kara’s navel. Remembering something from the previous night and wanting to ensure that it was a correct assumption, Lena started running the nail of her little finger up and down Kara’s side. She was pleased when she received the expected result and the blonde shifted in her sleep due to the ticklish sensation.

As her girlfriend’s body moved to get out of the reach of Lena’s finger, the brunette thanked physics once more for the thing called gravity, as Kara’s breasts slightly jumped up and down. Enticed by the view, the CEO could not help cup one of them, and she was rewarded with a breathy moan that touched her neck.

The sensitive thing to do was to stop her exploration and allow the other woman to sleep, but Lena could not keep her hands off her girlfriend. She started massaging the breast that was in her hand, thing that pulled Kara from her slumber. The first sign Lena had that Kara was awake and aware was the feeling of the blonde’s lips curve up in a smile and the kiss she pressed to her neck moments after.

“Hmmm, mornin’,” said Kara as she tried to come back from the sleepy feeling.

Lena pressed a kiss on the blonde’s forehead and then greeted her girlfriend.

“Good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?”

“Having you to hold me the whole night, what do you think? I did not sleep this good in ages, but… I am sorry for dozing off like that last night. You really wore me off.” Kara tried her best not to blush.

Lena sensed that and draped her hand around Kara, pulling her closer before speaking.

“Don’t apologise, Kara. I was more than content to just fall asleep with you.”

Smiling at the small gesture of reassurance, the blonde remembered everything Lena did for her and made up her mind to return all of them. She pulled herself up, resting her weight on her elbow, and then looked deep into Lena’s eyes.

“How about now that I am fully awake you let me take care of you in the same way you took care of me?”

Arching an eyebrow at the suggestion and pulling the corner of her lips in between the teeth, Lena could not help accepting the offer.

“Well, how could I say no to that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I just wanted to say that this is the closest they will get to saying the L word for now. And no, it’s not the one you are thinking of! It’s obvious that they are both lesbians… What do you think the “L” in “L-Corp” stands for?
> 
> Please leave a review and tell me how do you think this came along. It would help me a lot to know your thoughts, like… Did you like it? Did you hate it? Do you hate me? *winks*


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay guys, confession time? If anyone would’ve asked me earlier when the chapter would’ve seen the light of the day, I would’ve inclined to say never, but I had a promise to keep so I started writing anyway. As you can imagine, there was a reason for that, as I had quite the time in between chapters. Most of it was good, but then I got this flu exactly when I was ready to write this chapter. And well, things found a way to mess up with my mood. Bottom line is, this chapter had like 3 different versions, and it was supposed to be the last part in the series.
> 
> But in the end I decided to continue, because this story came to mean to me more than any of you can ever imagine. So, this instalment is an interlude to set up what’s coming next. I did try to make it light-hearted and basically write what I felt, because that’s the only thing that I can do. I’m not sure how many more chapters it will have, but adding a bit of plot in the future doesn’t do it wrong… right?
> 
> Enjoy reading!

Chapter 6

 

Lena Luthor was trying to catch her breath, her look fixated on her girlfriend. With a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips, the brunette pulled Kara up on top of her and kissed her lazily, recognising a second familiar taste on top of Kara’s own. Even though the haziness passed, the CEO still could not find words to speak. She kept staring at the blonde and could not believe what was happening.

In a very short time, Kara came into her life, moved things around and pulled Lena from the darkness she called home before. Growing up the way she did, the brunette did not have an easy time trusting people. But there was something specific about Kara that seeped inside her heart and changed that. She could not know exactly what that was, but she knew she never experienced anything like it before. The fast development of things should have scared her, but surprisingly she was not afraid.

It felt right to stand next to Kara, to look into her eyes and to allow herself to open up. When it was only her and the blonde, Lena did not have to pretend anymore, did not have to put on that practiced mask that everyone knew to be Lena Luthor. With Kara she could be exactly how she was, with all her fears, flaws and things that haunted her, because that look in the blonde’s eyes told her that she will be loved regardless of all that, and maybe especially because of all that.

And that was something Lena never expected to find. Even if on the surface she did not let it show, on the inside she already gave up hope that people like Kara Danvers existed. That people like Kara Danvers could come so unexpectedly in her life. That people like Kara Danvers could make her fall so completely. No, not any person, but Kara Danvers herself, she was the only one who could do that. She was the only one who could break through that hard exterior and find home in Lena’s heart.

Home… yes, that was exactly how it felt to love and be loved by Kara. And for Lena, home, just like love, was hard to find. She first lost that when Lionel passed, but then there was Lex to make things better and make her feel like home. She lost that again when Lex lost himself to his obsession to destroy Superman. But now she found it again in those cerulean eyes that were looking at her with kindness, tenderness, empathy, and pure, unhidden love. The affection Kara held for her was so plainly written in her eyes and so sincere that Lena found herself admitting that she felt the same.

It was faster than she ever expected for that old and deeply buried feeling to resurface, and she should have been terrified to recognising it being back in her entire chest. Instead, it felt like the only thing that made sense in her whole life. She thought about opening her mouth and voicing that out loud when Kara interrupted her thoughts.

“Do you want to have some breakfast?”

Of course Kara was thinking about food, Lena should have expected that… The brunette could have pointed out that she was about to bare out her soul while Kara’s concern was to keep her belly satisfied, but she did not. She decided to just go along and wait for another opportunity to expose her heart.

“Breakfast sounds lovely, Kara.”

The brunette’s answer made Kara instantly get out of bed and jump up and down like a kid around the tree on Christmas Day. It still was hard to believe that National City’s biggest hero, who was fighting big bad aliens, was the adorable puppy in front of her.

“You seem like you already have something in mind,” the brunette added.

“Actually, I kinda do…” Kara fidgeted, moving from one foot to the other. After she saw Lena giving her an encouraging nod, she continued. “Uhm, you see, Sunday is when usually Alex and I meet weekly. Back when we were at the Danvers’ home in Midvale, every Sunday we all used to gather in the kitchen and Jeremiah and Eliza used to take turns cooking us our favourite meals. So, every now and then we want to keep that tradition alive, because it reminds us of those times. I never shared that with anyone, but I would like if you would be the first.”

Lena felt completely shocked by Kara’s offer. She never experienced anything like that while growing up, and now her girlfriend wanted to include her in the plans that were normally destined for the people the blonde called family. For a moment she thought of saying no, that it was something just for the two sisters to share, but the hopeful expression on Kara’s face and the slight worry in those amazing blue eyes told her to reconsider. She felt for a second that it might be an appropriate time to say what she planned on earlier, but this was Kara’s moment. So, the brunette stood up, closed the distance between them, kissed Kara’s cheek and then asked.

“What are we cooking then?”

“Uhm, do you have any suggestions?”

“It’s your day, Kara. What do you normally do?

“Well, it’s usually not about what we cook, more like the atmosphere. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Don’t worry, I get it. But the question still stands, what would you like to eat?”

“There’s something that I didn’t have in a long time, but the last time we tried we’ve made a mess. So I don’t think…”

“Try me,” Lena challenged.

“Well, pancakes sound good.”

“Then pancakes it is!”

“What?! I mean, really? You know how to cook pancakes? And you want to do that for us? For me? Oh Rao, I have to tell Alex that I have the best girlfriend ever!”

Lena could not help but laugh seeing the blonde so excited, and spotting an opportunity she took advantage of it.

“Girlfriend, ha?”

To see all that joy and excitement die in an instant and the smile on Kara’s face be replaced by wide eyes and brows furrowed in mind concern was priceless.

“I’m sorry, I… I thought that… I shouldn’t have assumed…”

“Kara, relax! I was just teasing you. I am allowed to tease my girlfriend, right?”

And just like that, Kara became the giddy and cute puppy she was before. It did not fail to impress the CEO how with just a few words she could make Kara be so extremely cute.

“So, pancakes? Can I call Alex and tell her?”

The excitement in the blonde’s voice was so contagious that Lena could not help borrowing some of it.

“Sure Kara, got ahead. I’ll change and have a look in the kitchen to see if you have all that we need.”

Lena then allowed Kara to call Alex and tell her about the changes, while she wanted to get dressed. Having a look on the floor where she threw her clothes the previous night, the brunette realised that they were not exactly in the best condition. Her shirt was ruined and she did not think it would make a good impression to wear just her pants and a jacket. Somehow, she did not think Alex would want to find out about their late-night activities like that. She needed a shirt and the only place she could find one was Kara’s rack of clothes. Lena did not think that her girlfriend would mind her borrowing something for the day, not when they did not really have an alternative.

But finding something to go with her pantsuit was difficult. Kara’s wardrobe was just really warm with a lot of bright colours that really did not match her current style. As she was about to give up and ask Kara if she could borrow one of her dresses or something – she saw an outfit a little too provocative for what she knew of Kara’s taste, composed of a tight black top and a black skirt with an intricate white stripes design – Lena found the perfect thing to go with her clothes. It was a dark green silk top that seemed to work.

The CEO then slipped into the bathroom, changed into the new clothes and arranged her hair in a bun, leaving out a few locks of hair to cascade around her face. When she stepped out of the bathroom she was greeted with the sight of a speechless Kara, dressed casually in a yellow jacquard dress, eyeing her up and down.

Without even realising, the top the CEO picked was highlighting her eyes, and Kara got lost in them. She did not know what they reminded her of and she did not think that she could ever describe them, but when she looked deep into them, she immediately got transported to another place.

When those emerald eyes that glimmered in the morning light met the colour of a perfect raindrop on a blue daisy that were her own, Kara was no longer in her own apartment. She found herself on the meadow outside of her home back in Midvale in the middle of the spring. And in her memory everything had that green colour that became Lena’s trademark, from the young trees that surrounded her, to the water of the nearby river and also the freshly cut grass underneath her fingertips. And all that the blonde wanted to do was to sink into that grass and roll in it, allowing all her senses to be captured by that sense of freedom and the purity behind it.

But she could not do that, as the two women were interrupted by a knock on the door. It took a few moments for the blonde to register what was happening, all the while Lena was just watching her amused, and Alex was most probably wondering if she should just knock the door out of the hinges now or maybe a bit later. With the sudden realisation that she wanted the entrance to her apartment to stay intact, the Kryptonian rushed to open it up and let her sister in.

“Alex, hey… sorry to keep you waiting, we were just…” not knowing how to continue, Kara looked at her girlfriend for help. Luckily for her, Lena knew exactly what the little Danvers wanted from her.

“Checking if we have everything we need for pancakes. And apparently, we do. Tell me you are hungry…”

Realising that the brunette’s charm just saved her sister from some teasing, Alex stepped inside past Kara, addressing the CEO.

“Hungry? I am starving! Do you need any help?”

“Actually I do, but this is a job for Kara.”

“Kara, what?” The blonde queried uncertainly.

“Honey, can you please reach the vanilla powder for me? It’s a bit too high on the shelf.”

The familiar and loving tone smote the blonde and left her speechless. She did what her lovely girlfriend asked of her though, remembering halfway through that they were not alone in the kitchen. She instantly panicked and wanted to see if her sister caught Lena’s endearment, which resulted in her toppling a bag of flour all over the floor and on Lena in the process. Realising what she did, the blonde flushed and burst into a stream of apologies.

“Sorry! Oh, Rao, I’m so, so sorry Lena, I…”

“Kara, it’s alright,” the brunette stopped her with a gentle touch on the shoulder. “It’s just flour. I’ll step into the bathroom and wash really quick, okay?”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to…?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s not rocket science.”

“Even though from what I heard, your girlfriend did finish first in that class, Kara. I’m sure she can take care of some flour.” Alex interjected.

“Uhm… okay.”

After leaving a quick peck on Kara’s cheek, Lena went to get the flour out of her clothes. In the meantime, Alex was looking bemused at Kara, trying her best not to laugh.

“What?” The Kryptonian retorted not long after hearing Lena closing the door.

“I didn’t say anything,” Alex tried to feign innocence.

“I could hear you _think_ , Alex!”

“Ah, did you develop telepathic powers that I don’t know about last night?”

The blonde could swear that what her sister said had a double entendre, but did not want to play into her hand.

“Actually, Clark and I were testing this not too long ago and with a bit more practice we think that we’ll be able to communicate telepathically.”

“Smart-ass! You know what I meant,” Alex argued back.

Kara had to let out a gulp before speaking.

“Actually, I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“Is that so? Then answer me this: why is _your girlfriend_ wearing one of my old tops that I left at your place?” The older sister teased.

Kara though, did not see it as a simple joke and went on a full defence.

“No, Alex, you’ll leave her alone!”

“Oh, I plan to. It’s not like she’s the one trying to hide.”

“What do you mean?”

“What was the reason _Supergirl_ managed to be so clumsy as to drop things on the floor?”

“I…” the blonde was saved from replying when Lena returned.

“Did I interrupt something important?”

“No, Lena. I was actually just telling Kara to have a seat. It’ll be safer if I’ll give you a hand.”

Meanwhile, the only thing the Kryptonian could do was to throw her sister dagger stares.

“How are your clothes?” The DEO agent asked as she went to stand next to the brunette.

“Oh, it was nothing, don’t worry.”

“See, that’s what I don’t understand,” Alex continued. “How did such a talented and brilliant person like you end up with my clumsy sister?”

“Alex, I heard people call your sister a whole number of things, but clumsy is not one of them.”

“Well, they don’t know her the way I do. Do you want to hear about the time when…?”

In the meantime, Kara was trying really hard not to break the corner of the table she was currently gripping and also to refrain from using her heat vision on one of Alex’s locks of hair.

The DEO agent must have been unaware of the blonde’s murderous thoughts, but Lena could swear she felt like a pair of eyes were staring menacingly at her. Turning around she realised that it was Alex the person who was most probably going to be the hero’s next victim if she did not put a stop to it soon.

“Wait Alex, something makes me think that I stepped in the middle of a sibling rivalry and trust me, I want nothing of it. I had my own share.”

Before Alex could respond though, Kara cut her off.

“Oh, don’t worry, Lena. There’s nothing she has to say that I should be afraid of.”

“Is that so?” Alex turned now, an air of challenge in her voice.

“Yes, go ahead. Do your best.”

“Are you sure about that, Kara?” The brunette asked incredulous.

“Yes, she has nothing that can embarrass me with.”

“We’ll see about that,” said the agent as she winked at Kara.

Taking a moment to look at the two sisters that were frozen into an intense eye lock, Lena made up her mind.

“On a second thought, I don’t think I can pass this opportunity.”

“Didn’t think so. Now, what do you want to know first? How she believed that the traffic lights had small people inside that switched the colours and showed you to either walk or stay; or about how she thought that the industrial factories were responsible for “producing” clouds?”

“No, she didn’t…”

 

* * *

 

 Two stories and a stack full of cooked pancakes later, Kara did not think that it was such a good idea to offer Alex free hand in telling embarrassing stories about her to her own girlfriend.

“In my defence, Krypton did not have clouds like your atmosphere does! Plus, I was new to Earth.”

“Okay then, what about something more recent?”

“Alex…” Kara warned.

“So, Lena, did Kara ever flirt with you?”

“I… am not sure where you’re going with this.”

“Then, did you flirt with her?”

“I did…”

“And what was her reaction?”

“Well, I don’t want to say that she was really oblivious, but…”

“Guys! I am like… right here!” The blonde almost shouted, but Alex ignored her.

“Did she ever panic and really blurt thing out, then?”

“Oh yes, I once wanted to offer to sort out the parking for her when she said that she flew to my office… on a bus.”

Alex started laughing out loud, while Kara could only think of the fastest and most non-aggressive way to make her shut up.

“Well, it gets worse. Like, a couple of years back we went to the beach and these two guys approached us, on the pretence of asking for directions. Kara here…”

“Alex, don’t! I’m warning you.”

“What’s the matter? You said that there’s no way you can be embarrassed.”

By that point Lena could see the way Kara looked at her sister and already knew from experience what was supposed to happen. Kara had the same look she always did when Lex used to tease her, thinking that she was more bark than bite. Feeling supportive of her girlfriend and wanting to stand up to the little siblings, Lena caught Kara’s attention without Alex realising.

The DEO agent was so wrapped up in telling her story that was oblivious to what was happening in between the two women. But Kara was not so eager to hear that story again, so she followed Lena’s pointing looks until she realised what was the CEO proposing.

In a last attempt to get Alex to stop on amiable terms and using the opportunity as a cover for her true intentions, Kara pulled a pancake from the stack and started adding a lot of cream on it.

“Alex, just stop and let’s eat,” she offered, but it kind of lacked the soul to be considered a plea.

When the agent did not stop, the blonde took the pancake and hit her sister straight in the face from point blank distance, smearing cream all over her face. It felt really good to be able to do that and Alex was a really good sport, laughing despite her shock.

What Kara did not think to do was to hide the second cream can from the table, so when the older Danvers managed to clear her eyes, she saw it and planned her revenge. She instantly took hold of the canister and a pancake, and threw it after adding quite the amount of cream, aiming for her sister.

Being a Kryptonian on Earth had a lot of perks, and the only one Kara cared about when she saw Alex trying to pay her back was the super speed that could get her out of the trajectory before it could be too late. But that proved to be a mistake when the projectile did not hit the floor, colliding with Lena’s face instead. The sisters let out a twin gasp of surprise when that happened, but to Alex’s bewilderment, the brunette did not blame her. Instead she silently motioned for the agent in a signal language used by special operations team to play along with her. The CEO then turned to her girlfriend and asked for a favour.

“Kara, hold her! I want to enjoy this.”

Just like expected, the blonde did as asked and seized her sister’s hands behind her back. With a last look at the agent, Lena gave the signal and purposely aimed higher. As soon as the pancake left her hand, Alex dodged, taking Kara by surprise, so that the blonde did not have the time to avoid the shot meant for her.

For a second, she thought that now with both women allied against her, she was about to receive another hit, but she found Lena’s lips tasting the cream from her own instead. Thinking about it, Kara could not believe how a special agent, the most successful woman in National City, and herself, Kara Zor-El from Krypton, could spend Sunday morning in her apartment, engaging in food fights and covering themselves in cream, just like a bunch of kids. There was a subliminal thought somewhere telling her that they should go and wash up, but she could not take her eyes from the sight in front of her. Alex and her own brilliant girlfriend were helping each other clean the cream from their hair. Taking a deep breath, Kara could not believe that was how things really were. And as if it happened in most of the times, that thought did not stay as a simple thought, as Alex’s phone rang.

Reaching out on the table for it, the older sister picked it up, not carrying that it might get dirty with cream.

“Agent Danvers here,“ she answered almost out of habit, but soon enough panic made entered her voice. “Now? Okay, we’ll be there.”

When she hanged up, the agent shared a knowing look with her sister, being sure that Kara heard her conversation. In the meantime, Lena could only watch the silent exchange confused.

“What? What happened?” The brunette asked suspiciously after a few long seconds in which the silence continued.

With a sigh, Kara pulled away from Alex’s gaze, looked at her girlfriend, arms on her shoulders to try and provide some comfort.

“It’s… Lillian. She escaped custody and now is planning something. Alex and I have to go…”

The same face that one minute before held a huge amount of joy hardened again before Lena spoke.

“I’m coming too!”

The tone in her voice left no room for argument and both sisters had to accept that Lena was going to join them at the DEO’s headquarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comment section below, as it is what makes me continue writing. You guys really make me feel good whenever I get to put up another story…
> 
> Also… Lillian is back… anyone wants to guess what’s the first thing she will try and do?! #DontHateMe #SpreadTheLove #IPromiseTheBabiesWillBeFine … #Eventually


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! I’m back and here’s another chapter. I’m sorry for how long this one took, but my writing time was scarce, and I also had quite the writer’s block for some reason. Normally it would have taken me even more time to overcome it, but I had an immense help. I’m not going to lie, but like 75% of this instalment and the whole idea about it is thanks to an3is2. So yes, I wouldn’t have been able to publish this chapter otherwise, plus I was also kept on a schedule here (or at least I hope I managed to keep to the schedule-you decide an3is2 *shy smile*)… So, yes, most of the credit goes to an3is2 for this chapter!
> 
> And now for the second part of this a/n… I initially intended this chapter to be longer, but while writing it I realised that A)it is quite some angst and adding more seemed too much; B)it would have taken a lot longer to finish it, and giving the busy upcoming weekend I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to publish it until next week; C)it would have been quite lengthy if I would have continued and I realised that I can make two chapters out of that idea; and last, but not least D) Someonessomeone made me realise that some of you are actually expecting it and I should stop dragging it so much…. So, I guess what made me decide to publish it now was actually the fact that some of you are eager to read what happens next, so… here it is.
> 
> I hope you’ll enjoy it, and your thoughts are always appreciated.

Chapter 7

 

It was the first time for Lena at the DEO headquarter, and while normally she would take the time to have a look around the building, now it was not the case. As soon as Alex led her and Kara to the round table and she saw the monitors, everything seemed to fall into place. From the images on the monitor she most probably knew more than Alex or Kara did at that moment. She realised that Kara’s friend who helped her at the gala with the black-body field generator – Winn was it? – was putting them all up to speed with what they knew, but she did not pay attention to any of that.

Having a look at the screen, she saw the satellite view of a street with several abandoned buildings, a picture of her mother with her criminal record and affiliations, and next to her was the cyborg Hank Henshaw, Lillian’s goon with his abilities. There were several other monitors with extra information, but Lena did not need them, she already figured out her mother’s plans. Focusing back on the conversation around her, she heard Winn speak.

“Luckily I planted a transmitter on Lillian Luthor, and the last location it picked was an abandoned warehouse just outside of town. Now, I didn’t figure out yet what she wants with an abandoned warehouse, but-“

“It’s not abandoned,” Lena said before he could continue.

“Well, I scanned it with the most powerful satellites and I tell you that…”

“Doesn’t matter. Even if Supergirl would use her X-ray vision to look, it would still appear empty, thanks to my brother. What you wouldn’t know is that underground is one of Lex’s labs… But I deactivated it and removed her clearance…” Lena trailed off, trying to come up with some answers to her own queries.

“Then what is she doing there?” Kara inquired in a small panicky voice.

“Most probably going for one of Lex’s experiments of anti-alien weapons. It seems that I underestimated mother.”

“Then let’s go, what are we waiting for?”

“Kara, you can’t rush in like that. You need to wait for us as well,” interrupted Alex.

“Your sister is right, Kara. I’m already assembling aa team to support you. Lillian Luthor is not escaping again!” Came the determined voice of J’onn J’onzz.

“That’s exactly why I need to be there now! The last time she was loose she almost killed every alien in National City. If it weren’t for Lena we wouldn’t even have caught her. So yes, I’m going!”

The blonde left no room for argument, but also realised that she had to do something before. Turning to her girlfriend she took her hands into her own and spoke softly.

“I know you don’t like this, but it’s something that I need to do. I fought them before and I survived.”

“Yes, but now they might have Lex’s…” Lena said, worry dripping from her voice.

“And I have you, and Alex and a whole DEO squad. I’ll be fine.”

Realising that there was no way to argue with Kara, the brunette leaned in and pressed her lips softly against her girlfriend’s.

“For good luck. Stay safe!”

With a small smile and a nod to her sister, Kara was gone.

 

* * *

 

When Kara got to the underground lab she saw that the big vault-like door was pried open. With a quick glance to the side, the blonde saw that the security mechanism on the wall was broken. _“So brute force it was then,_ ” she thought as she cautiously stepped inside. Once she got passed the door it was not hard to realise where to go, she just followed the emergency lights from the floor. She passed by several rooms that were holding Lex’s experiments and she really did not want to know what was in there. After a couple more tries, Kara got to a room bathed in a light-blue colour and filled with numerous equipment of all types. The walls were covered by metal cabinets and shelves containing various objects, some of them glowing in different colours.

In the middle of the room there were two big tables with medical equipment and computers. Some papers were scattered on the floor, a few vials overturned next to a microscope, leaving the impression that somebody left in a hurry. But none of them caught her attention like the two figures searching through some of the containers. When they heard her entering the room, both turned. Lillian was the first person to speak, her tone condescending.

“Well, well, Supergirl is here. I was wondering when you were going to show up. I admit it is later than I would’ve expected. Which means that you’re getting sloppier.”

“I don’t know what do you plan on doing here, but it ends now. You are coming with me.”

“Do you really think it would be that easy, Supergirl? That I would be scared now and do what you say? No, for you see, you don’t have any way to stop me.”

“We did it once, we’re gonna do it again.”

Kara realised that playing Lillian’s games and trying to stay out of combat for as long as possible would only work in her advantage until the DEO agents would arrive.

“’We’? What part did you have in my capture? No, I believe it was all on Lena, and judging from the expression you had when she launched the rocket, she also tricked you. I never thought that she was a Luthor, but now I guess that manipulation and deceit does run in her veins.”

“You are wrong, she is nothing like you! She will never be. Lena choose to stand up to you and to your xenophobic ideas and to stop you once, she will do it again,” Kara became enraged, unable to allow Lillian to speak like that about her girlfriend.

“Did I touch a soft spot? Don’t worry, my dear, she will be too busy to pay any attention to me. Now, as pleasant as this is, I do have somewhere else to be. If you’ll excuse me…”

Lillian wanted to leave on a secondary exit that would lead to the main hallway, when Supergirl tried to stop her. Unfortunately for her, cyborg Henshaw cut her off before she could get to the older woman. The only thing he did before starting to throw punches at Kara was to let out a grunt.

When it came to unarmed combat it was clear that the former DEO director was an expert hand-to-hand combatant. Even so, their previous meetings gave Kara an idea about what he could do. On top of his superior combat knowledge, he was overpowering her in strength, even though his speed could not match hers. He was fast, Kara had to admit, but she was way faster. Even if he also had enhanced stamina and durability, at the core he was still human. Taking advantage of her better speed and knowledge from their previous encounters, Kara started to tire him out.

The blonde managed to avoid some blows that she would have definitely felt, and landed a few punches and kicks to the gut that definitely caused some physical trauma. It was not enough to end the fight, it only served to leave the man more enraged. In his new state, he started putting more force behind each blow, but at the same time he was leaving a few openings in his stance.

This time Kara could not evade all his attacks and some of them collided with her, sending her flying into the first table. Without any of the realising, an object that was on the table, a tiny piece of rock which was glowing red got lost and slipped under a cabinet, but not before Kara touched it. It was that moment when she was hit by a wave of dizziness that lasted a couple of seconds, until her body adapted to the exposure to the rock. Giving the fact that the cyborg took her easily and sent her tumbling into the furniture, Kara blamed the momentarily weakness on the blow she just received.

By the time she managed to shake the feeling and stand up, Henshaw was gone. Not planning on allowing them to get away, Kara followed, catching up with Lillian and her goon outside. Fortunately, by the time she got there so did Alex, Lena and half a dozen of DEO agents. When she stepped outside of the labs, Kara saw her girlfriend stepping closer to Lillian, and at the same time Alex kept close to Lena, following her.

“Mother,” the brunette deadpanned, asking with a simple word an explanation for what was happening.

“Lena, now isn’t this surprising? I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Cut the pleasantries and surrender now. There’s really no point to drag this out.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. I do have some other, more attractive, plans.”

“There’s been some changes to those initial plans. You are coming with us, one way or another. So there’s no need to make things harder for yourself.”

As to emphasise the already superior attitude Lillian had, the older woman took a few steps forward towards Lena. The only people who did not flinch were the two Luthors with their looks locked in between them. The first person to stiffen and go for the pad of her gun was Alex, followed by the other DEO agents. The next person to get alarmed was Kara, who would have been by her girlfriend’s side in an instant if she would not have been stopped by the cyborg. In truth, she could have charged through him to get to Lena, but that would only heat things up, and she needed to be smart about this. With her eyes fixated on her girlfriend’s sombre expression, she decided that Lillian’s intention was not to hurt Lena, at least not physically.

“You’re working with them now, Lena? Do you really think that a Super would ever trust a Luthor?”

Lena realised what her mother was trying to do, but did not want to give her the satisfaction she was looking for.

“Well then, it’s a good thing that you always told me how I’m not really a Luthor.”

“I did, but you see, Lena, you proved me wrong when you deceived everyone. Why did you do that and lie to everyone, your _beloved_ Supergirl included?”

At the emphasis, Lena could not help but switch her attention to Kara and meet the concern in those blue eyes. She berated herself for the slip and for how she was playing straight into her mother’s hands, but she could not help her reactions. Not when it came to Kara.

“Yes, that,” Lillian remarked after she read her daughter’s reaction. “Do you really think that the two of you could ever work? You already know that you are doomed to end up alone. Sooner or later she will see how you really are, Lena. You are messed up and dysfunctional, so how long do you think it will be until she will look at you and see that side? You will only remind her of why a Super doesn’t trust a Luthor, and then you will realise that you will truly be alone forever. You will always be the same afraid and helpless orphan you were when I took you in and offered you the world. You are still the same insecure child you were back then, scared of losing everyone who ever meant something to you. How is that going for you so far? Lionel is gone, Lex’s biggest wish is to see you dead, and now you’ve disappointed me more than ever. If your family left you _twice_ , what makes you believe that your girlfriend won’t do the same at the first opportunity?”

By the time Lillian finished, the brunette was left shaking and with tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall down on her cheeks and shatter her last shred of strength that was keeping her pinned right where she was standing.

When Kara saw her girlfriend’s bottom lip shake as hard as the hands by her side, she realised the mistake she made by letting the conversation even take place. But that was enough, no matter the consequences, she was not going to allow Lillian to hurt the brunette anymore. Taking advantage of her opponent’s momentarily distraction, Kara used her super-speed to place herself between the two Luthors, adopting a protective stance over her girlfriend.

“That’s it! I had enough of this. You’re coming with me, _now_ ,” came Supergirl’s sharp and angry tone.

“I suppose you are partially right. This conversation ends here, but not as you might think,” said Lillian as she pulled a small cylindrical device from her pocket and pressed a red button on it.

In that instant, Alex, Kara, Lena and the DEO squad heard an unbearable sound piercing through their ears and making their heads feel like they have been prickled with hundreds of needles. Not being able to block the sound waves, they all lost their balance and dropped to the ground. Kara tried to fight back and fry the device, but she could not even think, let alone use her heat vision.

Seeing that her plan worked, Lillian felt like boasting before leaving. She pointed to a small object in her ear before doing so.

“You see this tiny device? It blocks the low frequency ultrasounds waves that are overloading your hearing sense and affecting your inner ear. As about now you are experiencing a terrible headache, dizziness and nausea on top of the inability to find your balance. So, I guess I’ll just leave this here and take my leave.”

And with that Lillian and Henshaw left with Lillian’s helicopter, leaving everyone else behind with the ultrasound emitter next to them. Alex was the closest person to it, but due to Kara’s superior hearing, the blonde was the one being affected the most.

“Kara. You need to. Do something,” the other Danvers tried to speak.

“I ca-nnot A-Alex. Every-time I think is… But I’ll try–  Ah!” The Kryptonian shouted as she tried in vain to use her heat vision.

Realising that Kara could not do anything, Alex tried using her hand gun, but could not aim for dear life. Knowing that the more they were exposed to the ultrasounds, the worse it would get, the DEO agent used the last ounce of strength she had and pushed through all the pain, managing to crawl closer to the device. As soon as she was in point-blank range and sure that she would not miss, she fired her gun and managed to hit the device. In that instant the sound stopped and all that was left was the muffled noise of the world around them.

After a few minutes everything receded and everyone managed to stand up, all apart from Lena who was still a broken mess on the ground. She was left shaken after her encounter with Lillian, all the feelings she managed to forget this past few days brought back to life. It felt like she was back drowning herself in that bottle of wine like on the day when she stopped the Medusa virus. But then Kara pulled her out of that dark path, and the same strong woman was sitting next to her now, a hand tentatively on her back, not sure if she should continue or just offer her space.

Before Kara could decide what to do, Lena stood up and buried her face in Kara's chest. The brunette then felt her girlfriend starting to massage her back and tell her that it was okay, that she could let go. Lena did not know how could Kara read her and tell what she felt, but what the blonde was offering was exactly what she needed.

So, she listened to her girlfriend and allowed her self-control to waiver enough to let out all the pain. The pain that Kara took as her own and replaced it with all the affection and love she had for Lena. They did not say the words, they did not even attempt to, but Lena could feel them in the way Kara was holding her to her chest, in the way Kara whispered soothing words into her ear, in the way Kara kissed the top of her head. Kara did not need the words, Lena already knew.

When the brunette felt a soft hand caress her tear-stained cheek, she looked up and was met with light blue eyes that told her it would be okay. And she believed them, which gave her the strength to smile back shyly.

And when Kara smiled back everything felt normal again. Lena was back to the present and could hear her girlfriend actually speaking with her. She was not ready to talk about it, and Kara knew that. That was why the blonde did not ask if she was alright, she did not ask for an explanation, she just told her to hang on to her.

"Come on, I'll take you home."

 

* * *

 

By the time Kara got to Lena's house, the brunette stopped crying, but turned emotionless instead. It was very different from how Lena usually was around Kara, so the blonde knew that she had to do something to change that. She just did not know what.

Lena went on and opened the door and they both got in. She removed her coat and boots in which she managed to change before, all the while being silent. And unlike other times, the silence between them was not at all comfortable, but left Kara unsettled instead.

Giving the way her girlfriend acted, Kara also knew that she had to be going over Lillian's words repeatedly in her mind, each time hurting more and more. Lillian knew exactly what to say to make Lena doubt herself again and the fact that someone in this world was able to see her for how she truly was... Beautiful, intelligent, charming, compassionate, kind, and above all... Good!

After the CEO finished getting out of her outer clothes, she knew that she should say something to Kara. It was hard to find words when all her thoughts were swirling, but this was Kara Danvers, her girlfriend, so she could not leave things like that.

"You can stay here if you don't feel like flying home. I really don't mind, I can prepare some clothes for you to change into."

But that felt all wrong to Kara. It was like suddenly Lena forgot everything that happened between them, all the feelings they admitted to have for each other, and now was treating her like a friend.

"Lena, talk to me. Don't do that... Don't close everything inside yourself. I am here.”

"And what do you want me to say, Kara? What could I possibly have to say?"

"Anything! Be mad, be upset, start breaking something, shout at me, cry it all out. Just, anything but this! Allow yourself to feel and allow me to be here for all of it, be it good or bad. Don't push me away, don't pretend like nothing happened... Just, don’t, okay?"

"Kara, this has nothing to do with you. It's my mother, so it’s my own problem."

"It does have everything to do with me. I was under the impression that I was your girlfriend, Lena! And I care about you. Don't push me away just because you think you have to do this alone. You don't!"

Lena took a moment to weight Kara's words. She understood what the blonde was saying, if the roles were reversed she would want to do the same as Kara. But they were not and her girlfriend did not deserve to be dragged into her own mess. And knowing Lillian, the woman would not stop at just words. Sooner rather than later she would strike against Lena, and she knew where it would hurt the most, the one thing that the brunette could not control. So, Lillian would come after Kara personally, just to hurt Lena in the only way that would really break her.

All the time while Lena was thinking, Kara was feeling like she was going mad waiting for an answer. She could see that Lena was assessing something by the way her eyes were drilling holes into the furniture item next to the blonde. Not being able to take the silence anymore, Kara spoke again, hastier that she would have wanted.

"Say something, Lena. I can see that you are thinking. Just, talk to me, don't go and make decisions on your own."

"But I have to, Kara."

"You cannot actually believe her, right? You cannot actually think that I... That this between us is not real? Or do you?" It was hard to even think of the possibility, and it was infinitely harder to say the words out loud.

Ever since Kara came to Earth, she forgot how it was to hurt. She remembered how a broken bone felt after she was exposed to red sun light and momentarily lost her powers, she remembered the pain she felt when Astra died in her arms, she remembered how broken she felt when Alex came clean about her being the one who killed her aunt, not J’onn, and the tear-felt moment they shared afterwards, and she also remembered how recently she felt disappointed by her parents and how being stripped of the last good memories she had of them felt. She also remembered how weak and powerless she felt when she saw Lena launching that rocket, but now... Now it was like all those feelings were merging together and growing exponentially in her own chest, threatening to break everything inside her. That was how the thought of losing Lena, the thought that their love was untrue, or that she would never get the chance to tell the brunette the full extent of her feelings felt. Without realising, those last thoughts brought tears into her eyes and were now smearing on her cheeks, and she was powerless to stop them.

"I... I don't believe that she was right, Kara." Lena said when she saw her girlfriend tearing up. In the moment her words left her mouth, she saw how Kara let out a breath she did not realise she was holding and how it felt like a stone lifted of the blonde's chest. But the CEO could not allow that hope to find root inside Kara's heart again, not when she knew what she had to do next in order to protect her. "But I do not believe that this, us... Is a good idea right now. Lillian will not stop coming after me, and she will use you to get to me. Kara, us being together will just paint a target on your back, and I cannot lose you. So, I have to let you go.”

It was that moment when Kara felt her whole world shatter, but she could not allow herself to break. She could not allow Lena to make decisions for her, decisions that she did not really think the brunette wanted to make, just to keep her away from harm. So, the blonde looked inside herself and with the last shred of power she could find moved closer to Lena.

When the brunette did not step back, nor stopped her from moving forward, Kara was hit with a fresh set of hope. The tears that started forming inside her girlfriend's eyes also told the blonde that it was not something Lena wanted. So, she had to push forward and make Lena listen to her.

With a look between their bodies, she saw that the brunette's hands were slightly shaking by her sides. With a tentatively look up into those beautiful green eyes, Kara asked for a silent permission, one that Lena granted with a nod. It was all it took to reach out and take Lena's hands into her own. When their hands touched, the blonde could feel tremors passing through the brunette, so in order to soothe them, she brought them one by one to her own lips. That had the desired effect and Lena seemed to relax slightly, her hands becoming steadier into the gentle ones that were now holding them.

The next time Kara looked up and met Lena's eyes, the panic she previously had in them was no longer there. Instead she was hit by a wave of warmth coming from them and spreading through her whole body. This, the two of them, felt right. When they were together, they were stronger than on their own. When they were together, sharing soul-baring looks, nothing else mattered. No threats on their lives, no pain, disappointment or heart-break, not the slightest thing going outside, in the real world. All that mattered was the connection between them and the unspoken love that flowed through both their veins, seeping from one and running through the other.

Realising that even though Lena shared the same feelings as her, Kara still had to give voice to them and to ensure that the brunette understood her.

"Lena, you don't have to do this alone. I know that all your life you had only one person to be there for you and how it was for you when that ended, but it doesn't have to be the same ever again. I am here, there's no other place I would rather be, and I don't plan on ever leaving. I know you are scared of losing me, but that can only happen if you are the one who's driving me away. Lillian and the whole world can try and come between us, but they will never succeed in breaking us. For this connection between us it runs deep within our own blood and is stronger than anything else known to man - and that says a lot coming from the "Girl of Steel". We are stronger together and nothing else felt more right in my entire life. Being here, close to you, being able to look into your eyes, being able to feel your chest rise and fall with every intake of breath, being able to hear the ticks of your heartbeat and hold onto them like a lifeline is more than I could ever wish for. So, don't make me turn away, don't make me leave you alone, don't make me... "

Kara had to swallow hard, her words getting caught in her throat. Her thoughts were moving frantically in her own head, her heart was racing, keen on bursting out of her chest and she could feel panic take hold of her completely.

She forgot how to breathe, she forgot how to move or how to think, how to exist, until the moment when Lena spoke next, her voice slightly cracking with unshed tears, but strong and calming at the same time. "Go on, Kara. I am here."

The smile that accompanied those reassuring words were all that Kara needed to open up and give herself completely to the most incredible person she ever met, but could not believe ever existed.

"Don't make me... Deny my love for you." The blonde finally said, hope filling her from the inside.

“Is this the way you want to tell me that you love me, Kara?” Lena could not help but grin, despite how she felt just a few moments before.

“Well, I didn’t plan on telling you like this, but I also did not want to leave things unfinished between us.”

“I suppose you are right,” Lena agreed. “That’s why there is something you need to know as well.”

The brunette took a moment to gather herself and push past all the warnings her brain was sending her. If she continued like that it would be so much harder to let Kara go, but the blonde was right. She could not deny her girlfriend the right to hear what Lena felt for her, no matter how much it would break the CEO to follow up with her plan. So, trying to steady her shaking voice, she looked into Kara’s eyes which were shining with hope. It was all that she needed to stop delaying and continue.

“I need to tell you that I love you too, Kara.”

In the instant Kara heard that her girlfriend returned her feelings, a thousand thoughts were flying through her head faster than the speed of light. She did not know which one to voice, or what would be appropriate to say. “ _You-You do?_ ”, “ _then don’t do this_ ”, “ _we can fight Lillian together_ ”, “ _nothing could ever change what I feel for you and I don’t care how hard it gets_ ”… She wanted to say all of that and a lot more, but she still felt like the words would never be enough to change Lena’s mind. So, Kara decided to tell Lena in the only way she could express her feelings on the matter.

Instead of using her words, the blonde closed the distance between them and kissed her girlfriend, pouring all her love and affection into it. All the assurance she wanted to provide, but for which she had no words went into the kiss and into the way she was holding Lena like she never wanted to let her go. If that was the last moment she could do that and be with the incredible woman who she called her girlfriend, then Kara had the intent on putting all of herself and all her feelings behind that kiss.

Lena was shocked to see Kara’s reaction. She expected the blonde to argue with what she was about to do, or to try and convince her that she was probably throwing away the best thing in her life. But instead, Kara kissed her, and in that kiss she felt acceptance, reassurance, comfort, commitment, and a whole lot of love. It was then when she realised that Kara was right and that they were stronger together. Maybe this time she did not have to isolate herself from everyone and bare all the hurt on her shoulders. Maybe this time she could open her heart to Kara and allow her to walk by her side on the path set in front of her. Making the decision to give them a chance, Lena started kissing the blonde back until they had to stop and come back for air.

Lena’s response left Kara with more questions and a whole lot of conflicting feelings. One on side she wanted to be hopeful that she got her point across, while on the other side she did not want to build that hope too high, only to be shattered in the end. Therefore, she had to know where they were standing before she would drive herself crazy.

“So, where does this leave us, Lena? I mean the kiss was… But you also said that… Do you still mean what you said?”

“I still want to protect you, Kara, but I also know that even if I drive you away, that wouldn’t stop you from going after Lillian or from placing yourself in front of any danger for my sake. And I don’t want to lose you, so let’s do things your way.”

After she finished making what was probably the hardest decision in her whole life, Lena let out a sigh and collapsed into her girlfriend’s strong arms, feeling the emotional strain taking a toll on her body.

Kara realised that the brunette was tired and needed to relax and rest, so she took her into her arms, bridal style, and walked into Lena’s bedroom lying the brunette on the bed.

“You look exhausted. Let’s just sleep and see what we’ll do next in the morning.”

In the moment Lena’s body touched the soft bed, her arms still wrapped around Kara’s neck, a strong feeling of haziness took over her brain and everything seemed foggy. It was hard to concentrate on anything, but she could swear that she heard Kara’s muffled voice say something about sleeping and she could not agree more.

“Sleep. With-with you, sounds good…”

“Yes, I’ll be here with you and I won’t leave,” Kara said while using her super speed to change out of her clothes and climb into bed with her girlfriend.

The last thing Lena did before falling asleep was to cuddle into Kara’s side and rest her head on her chest, a content smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guys, what do you think will come next besides more angst? Let me know what you think or what you’d like to see in the future in the comment section below and who knows, it might happen… *winks*
> 
> Annien out!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, if you guys think this wasn’t heartbreaking to write, you are all wrong!
> 
> Just to let you know guys, I still did not see the Luthors episode, so I still have no clue what parts of it I foresaw in my previous chapter. Also, nothing that happens in this one or in the next will involve the episode (which meant that the idea that I initially had to use Lex’s suit against Superman I had to drop it when I saw the same suit in the promo for the episode!). The canon divergence starts from episode 8 when I started this story. I might write something else that will include what happened after, especially regarding Lena, but only after Invictus will be over. And we are approaching that moment either in one or two chapters, but until then though, I leave you with this long overdue update.
> 
> As always please let me know in the comment what you thought of this one, because I had a storm of emotions inside myself when I wrote it. Your comments are what keeps me going, so you guys are amazing!
> 
> Annien

Chapter 8 

 

Lena Luthor woke up in the morning on the sound of loud music coming from her kitchen. It took her several moments to register what was happening, and with a look to her left she confirmed that Kara was not in bed. After taking a moment to freshen up in the en-suite bathroom attached to her bedroom and to change in some comfortable lounge clothes, Lena made her way to the kitchen, keen on finding out what was happening.

The sound of rock music blasting at 8am in the morning through the sound system she had installed in the walls was definitely odd. What Lena did not expect though, was to turn the corner and be greeted with a sight she never could have imagined. Kara Danvers, cute puppy Kara Danvers… the place from where all the rainbows came, and her sweet girlfriend Kara Danvers was in one of her old outfits. When the brunette saw her girlfriend with a hair style similar to hers, all of it tied up in a tight ponytail, wearing her old small black-framed rectangular glasses, a pair of black jeans ripped in various places on the thighs, a black vest and a black shirt underneath, Lena thought that she woke up in a different dimension. The only spot of colour that the brunette could see were the white dots of the shirt and Kara’s scarlet lips. And if the change of style was not enough of a clue that something was different with Kara, the way she carried herself, the bold and seductive way she walked towards the place in the wall designed for Lena’s music player definitely told the brunette that this was a whole new Kara Danvers.

The change in music was enough to pull Lena back to the present. She instantly found herself in the awkward position of having their place swapped. She was sporting a Star Wars themed lounge pants and an oversized Lord of the Rings t-shirt, while her girlfriend looked like she was about to go out on the stage and perform a rock concert.

Taking advantage of her shock, Kara was the first to speak as she was walking back to the stove to finish seasoning what appeared to be their veggie omelette breakfast. “Good morning, Lena. You are just in time for breakfast. I hope you don’t mind that I picked up some of your clothes, but I could not walk around in the Supergirl suit all day, or wearing nothing at all,” the blonde ended her sentence with a smug side smirk and a wicked wink.

A wink! Lena could not believe what she was seeing. “Wait, are you wearing black eyeliner? And what’s with the sudden change?” The brunette asked, having a hard time accepting what she was seeing.

“It’s a new day so I’ve figured I should try something different,” the blonde shrugged and then fixed her girlfriend with a disarming look. She then narrowed her eyes and bit the corner of her lip before continuing, “I thought you’d like this updated _version_ and that you might even want to take it for a test.”

By the time Kara finished speaking, Lena did not know if she should be surprised, aroused, or both. The blonde saw towards what her girlfriend was inclining so she could not help a mischievous smirk that only helped turning the scale towards what Kara was aiming at.

Lena had to gulp in order to try and swallow down her desire and not give in to Kara’s game – a game the brunette never thought that they would be playing.

Taking pity on her girlfriend, Kara put a hold to everything by bringing the breakfast to the already set table Lena missed before. “Have a seat and let’s eat while it’s still hot,” the blonde advised her girlfriend.

Taking a seat at the table, Lena took a deep breath to gather herself and focus on something else other than how seductive Kara looked and how provocative she was with every action. Having a look on the table she saw in the middle her vase with plumerias that was never missing, two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice and two bowls with whole grain cereals, yoghourt and blueberries, both looking like they were prepared by Kara.

“Wow, Kara, I have to say that I’m impressed. Everything looks and smells delicious,” Lena praised her girlfriend as her eyes were fixed on the veggie omelette that Kara laid on her plate.

“I figured that if you cooked yesterday, today was my turn.”

“Let’s just hope we’ll be able to finish eating today.”

“Oh, nothing is stopping me. I even plan on having some… dessert,” Kara eyed Lena up and down, gently using her tongue to pull her bottom lip in between her teeth. The blonde then raised her eyes back up to cast a fiery gaze into Lena’s green ones before finishing the sentence.

Gulping audibly at her girlfriend’s proposition, Lena wished Kara _‘bon appetite’_ and then they both finished their meals, listening to the songs Kara was playing over the speaker. When the brunette heard the guitar notes of a certain Def Leppard song, she could swear that Kara did it on purpose just to toy with her.

She wanted to stand, put the dishes in the sink and get out before the chorus could start, but by the time she wanted to turn and take her leave she bumped into Kara, her hands resting on the blonde’s chest. Kara just cocked her left eyebrow and gave the brunette a smirk while the bridge was playing. With a last attempt to get free, Lena only managed to get closer to Kara so that her girlfriend’s lips were brushing her ear. When she heard Kara start singing the chorus, Lena almost forgot why she needed to leave.

_“Pour some sugar on me_

_Ooh in the name of love”_

As the first words rang in her ear, Lena felt like she was melting in her girlfriend’s arms.

_“Pour some sugar on me_

_C'mon fire me up”_

As Kara continued, the brunette left her hands drift towards those strong shoulders and gripped them hard as to anchor herself.

_“Pour your sugar on me_

_Ooh I can't get enough”_

The way Kara said _‘your sugar’,_ almost with an emphasis, had the CEO pulling back slightly to look how those words were rolling off the blonde’s lips. By the time Kara got to _‘I can’t get enough’_ Lena leaned in closer to take those lips in between her own, but her phone rang and interrupted the moment.

With a sigh she broke their embrace and reached for the device, much to Kara’s frustration, who opposed at first but allowed Lena to step back. The brunette knew who it was even before she saw the caller ID.

“Good morning, Jess, what’s the emergency? Yes, I am aware of the meeting the board called, and no, I’m not worried. Because I run L-Corp and I can deal with my mother. Anyone who doubts that will be _gently_ reminded soon enough. Anything else, Jess? Good, then I’ll see you in twenty.”

When her call ended, Lena looked back at Kara who had her eyes narrowed. “Board meeting?”, the blonde asked.

“Yes, honey. I would have told you before, except that they called for it half an hour ago, wanting to discuss the aftermath of Lillian’s escape and my ability to deal with it.”

“Are they asking for a vote of confidence?”

“Maybe, but I still own the company. The company I took from Lex and transformed it into what it is today. The board better remember that.”

“Oh, if you want, Supergirl can be there to ‘remind’ them a thing or two,” the blonde said seriously.

Taking Kara’s words as nothing more than a joke, Lena giggled and gave her girlfriend a peck on the lips. “Aww, thank you honey, but I need to fight my own battles. And if I want to win I need to hurry up and not be late. But uhm, dessert? Tonight?” The brunette added with a wink.

What took her by surprise was her girlfriend swooping her off her feet and flying them into the air before she captured Lena’s lips into a kiss. “Oh, I’ll hold you to your promise, miss Luthor.” She then slowly brought them back down. “Now run before I change my mind.”

 

* * *

 

With her girlfriend gone back to the office, Kara did not know what to do. She was bored out of her mind now that her plans shattered. She knew that there was nothing she could do back to her apartment, Lena’s home was too empty for her taste, she did not want to see Snapper’s face at all, and she sure as hell did not want to go back to the DEO HQ only to have to babysit Mon-El. But that did not mean that she could not have some fun as Supergirl any other way.

So, Kara put on her costume and started flying around the city. She stopped a robbery at the bank, flew out of the country to stop a plane crash in London, and when she came back to National City she was already feeling hungry. Not wanting to eat alone, Kara thought of taking her girlfriend out, but when she was hovering above the L-Corp building she heard the board meeting still in development, and it did not seem to go too well. Using her super-hearing and vision Kara heard an old, short man with a suit one size bigger address her girlfriend.

“Miss Luthor, I took into consideration all your arguments, but with your mother out there I believe that the name Luthor attached to this company will only harm the image. That is why I’d advise you to take a leave of absence until the situation can be mediated.”

“With all due respect, without me there wouldn’t be a company to worry about how my name would affect its image. I transformed L-Corp into what it is now after my brother went on his quest against Superman and ruined everything good Lex-Corp did, so I am more than capable of leading it.”

“But you have to think of what’s the best for the company, and right now that’s not you miss _Luthor_.”

When Kara heard the emphasis on Lena’s last name, meant to discourage and outright bully the brunette out of her own company, the blonde could not just stand idle and listen. Before her girlfriend could respond, Kara was already in the office ready to argue with anyone who dared comparing Lena with Lillian. Her unexpected visit left everyone confused or in shock, and Lena forgot everything she wanted to say.

“And do you think-,” the CEO had to stop when in the next instance she saw her girlfriend standing by her side. “Ka- I mean Supergirl! What are you doing here?” the brunette asked confused.

“I was just hovering around the city when I’ve heard the huge mistake your board of directors was going to make. I’m here to make sure that won’t happen!”

Already knowing how things were going to end if she could not get Kara out of there soon, Lena whispered to her girlfriend, “I wish you haven’t done that. You need to leave before it gets worse. Please.”

“And allow them to harass you? No way, I’m here to prove-“

Before Kara could finish, the short, old man recovered from shock and stood up, an accusatory look on his face. “You spied on us?”

“Here it goes,” Lena whispered for only her ears and Kara’s.

“This was a private meeting that not only you had no right to listen to, but which you also interrupted.”

“I just came to talk about Lena-“

Interrupting Kara, the man turned his attention towards Lena before talking. “Ah, so when you saw that your arguments were failing you thought that it would be better to get Supergirl here to speak for you? Like that was going to change our minds when she’s the reason why we are in this predicament in the first place. You know what, miss Luthor, the board has enough information already. This meeting is concluded and you will receive our official answer in a few hours. A good day to you.”

Lena was left frozen in place watching as all the directors cleared the room, while Kara was still trying to talk. Without saying a word, the brunette took a seat on her chair and buried her face in her hands.

Seeing her girlfriend look defeated, Kara tried to console her. “Hey, Lena, it’s going to be alright. It’s not like they can fire you after all. It’s your company, you said it yourself.”

“You don’t understand, do you Kara? It is my company, but if I don’t do as they ask the will retreat their support and go public about it. In a lot of people’s eyes I am still _just a Luthor_. If they do that, L-Corp will lose a lot of contracts and investors. So, I have to do as they want me to.”

“Then that’s what you’re going to do now and once we catch Lillian you can get L-Corp back.”

“But I had L-Corp, Kara! I dealt with the board myself just fine until Supergirl showed up. Richard was doing nothing more than fish for any sign of weakness or hesitation from me to show the others. And now he can convince everyone that I don’t have what it takes to run this company. He will use you against me, Kara!”

“I’m sorry, Lena, I shouldn’t have… I didn’t mean to…”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Lena sighed as she stood up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a PR speech to prepare before this goes public. I’ll see you at home.”

Kara could just sit back and watch her girlfriend leave. She was so frustrated because of how things went when she only wanted to help. Without knowing what was happening, a burst of emotions triggered the mild effect touching the red glowing stone the previous night had on her, and what was frustration soon turned into full blown anger. Without thinking clearly, the Kryptonian flew out of the office through a window, shattering it, and straight into the first alleyway, punching the garbage compactor and leaving a massive hole in it. That seemed to help and after several more punches there was nothing left of the compactor, and Kara’s eyes seemed to lose the red hue they got a couple of minutes earlier.

Just like nothing happened, Kara flew back around National City, finding two more situations involving aliens working outside the law and dealt with them, leaving two battered aliens behind, both of them barely conscious. Feeling once again bored and still hungry, Kara returned to Lena’s place, remembering the goodies the CEO had in her fridge.

She got in using the key Lena gave her that morning, switched on the TV and went to the kitchen to start cooking. She did not finish getting everything out of the fridge when Lena entered the door.

The brunette dropped her purse in the hallway and then went to the living room, trying to look for Kara. She wanted to ask where her girlfriend was, but the news report stopped her. The National City television was already playing the interview they took of her twenty minutes earlier when she stepped out of her office. The headline was _‘Is Lena Luthor bailing the ship? What is she really up to?’_. With a frustrated sigh Lena decided that she needed a drink, so she headed for the kitchen where her girlfriend was.

The first thing Kara asked was, “Are you alright?”

“Every media outlet is trashing my name through dirt right now. I’m not fine, I need a drink.”

“Do you want to talk?”

“What’s there to talk about, Kara? No, I just want a drink,” Lena said as she headed for the drinks cabinet.

“But I don’t think you should…”

“Kara, please! It already hurts enough that no one believes that I had nothing to do with Lillian’s plans, but now all that I did to right the wrongs Lex did and to fight against my mother is being taken away from me. So maybe I don’t want to _talk_ about it.”

Hearing Lena say that no one believed in her triggered something in Kara as she was instantly overwhelmed by emotions. Her eyes flashed red for a few seconds, and before she knew it she was talking again.

“That’s maybe because they are all right.”

“Excuse me?” Lena laughed for a few seconds before turning to her girlfriend. “Is this some sort of reversed psychology or a joke, because it might be working.” When she met her girlfriend’s blue eyes this time Lena did not see any warmth behind them.

“No, no joke. If everyone draws the same conclusion, maybe they are right and I was wrong.”

In an instant, it felt like all the air was sucked out of Lena’s lungs and she felt her knees go weak. But Kara could not believe that, she just could not – the brunette convinced herself. The only way that she could stand was to believe that.

“But you don’t really mean,” tears were now gathering in those sad green eyes. “Yesterday you said…”

“Well, I was clearly wrong! Look at you, crying like a little child. It’s pathetic,” Kara laughed mockingly. “Lillian was right after all, you are just some afraid and helpless orphan that plays pretend, trying so hard to be something that you are not.”

“You-you don’t want to say that… You… You-,“ Lena was already chocking on her tears that were flowing freely on her cheeks, doing her best no to collapse on the ground.

“I what, Lena? Look at you, you cannot even finish a sentence.”

“Yesterday you said that you. That you…” Tears started falling more rapidly by thinking of those beautiful three words Kara confessed the previous day, but which she knew she would not hear now.

“I said that I loved you?” Kara asked with another mocking laugh that echoed in Lena’s ears. “How could you believe that I could ever love someone as weak and vulnerable as you?” The blonde said with a smile on her face, “and maybe next time I won’t even be there to stop your _family_ for getting what they want.”

“You’re not going to actually-,“ Lena asked with a broken voice in a whispery tone.

“What, leave you? Tell me a good reason for which I should stay,” Kara did not shy from hiding her smirk.

 _‘Because I love you; because you love me; because this connection between us runs deep within our blood and is stronger than anything else,’_ Kara’s words from yesterday echoed in her ears, but when Lena tried speaking, no sound came out.

“Ha, exactly what I thought,” the blonde shook her head disapprovingly, her eyes flashed red once more and in the next second she was gone, leaving Lena alone.

In the moment Kara was gone, the voice that previously rang in Lena’s ears transformed into Lillian’s, telling her again and again the same words that got imprinted in her mind the previous night.

 _‘You are doomed to end up alone’_ the voice said and Lena threw her glass into the closest wall in a desperate attempt to get it to stop. But it was to no avail as she heard Lillian speak once more. _‘If your family left you **twice** , what makes you believe that your girlfriend won’t do the same at the first opportunity?’_

Tears were falling harder on her cheeks, and the brunette found it difficult to even breathe as the voice kept repeating the last words over and over again. _‘Left you. First opportunity. Kara left you at the first opportunity…’_

But something about that did not make sense. Kara, _her Kara_ , did just what Lillian said she would do. She left her after…

‘ _Don’t make me turn away, don’t make me leave you.’_ Her girlfriend’s words were coming to her once again. Her Kara said that with pleading eyes, not cold and emotionless ones. Not, not _red_ ones.

And that was when realisation hit her. That was not Kara being bold and provocative in the morning, that was not Kara disregarding her wishes and interrupting her meeting, and that was definitely not Kara saying all those things a few moments earlier. That was the red Kryptonite, it had to be! It was the only explanation for the blonde’s behaviour, for her eyes that flashed red, and she could have come into contact with it back at Lex’s lab.

As the theory fell into place, realisation hit her. Kara was unstable and free in National City, ready to do God knows what and hurt innocent people. Oh, Lena really needed to call Alex Danvers.

 

* * *

 

When Alex finished the unexpected phone call with Lena Luthor and turned towards J’onn, the Martian already knew what was happening. He came around and laid a supporting hand on the brunette’s shoulder.

“It’s alright, Alex, we already discussed the possibility and we have the protocols in place.”

Alex, who was barely holding on, only managed to nod and allowed J’onn to prepare all they needed to go against Kara… again.

Seeing his friend’s distress and not knowing what was happening around the DEO HQ’s, Winn approached the older Danvers sister.

“Hey Alex, not to be insensitive or anything, but uhm, what’s happening around here?” He pointed with the end of his pen at two agents running around and grabbing gear. “And what’s this Protocol 10 J’onn’s talking about?”

“The worst-case security measure to protect National City,” Alex answered with a sigh, not looking at Winn.

“Protect the city from what? And where’s Kara, shouldn’t she supposed to be here?”

“From Supergirl,” was the only thing Alex said before she turned around and walked past Winn, heading towards the armoury.

“But why would the city need protection from Kara?” The tech genius asked as he followed Alex, still slightly confused. When he got into the armoury and spotted the brunette again, he could not help himself from exclaiming, “Wow, that’s a big gun. And what are you doing with the Kryptonite suit?”

Luckily for the brunette, J’onn read her lack of patience for Winn’s inane questions and intervened. “What does it look like, agent Schott? We’re going to stop Supergirl.”

Trying to gather his thoughts and quickly analyse the situation, Winn took a look around. Realising what was happening and remembering how it was the last time Kara was affected by the red Kryptonite, he knew that he wanted to be there for his friend when she would get back to normal. He still needed something to sell his argument for being in the field, other than his relationship with Kara.

“But you are not even sure the weapon Maxwell Lord made is going to fire after the last time. You need someone with engineering skills in case-“

“Oh, it will fire. Plus, we already have someone, Winn. Lena Luthor is already back to Lex’s lab trying to figure out what happened, and we’re going to meet her there,” Alex remarked impassively, but had a change of heart when she saw his reaction. She understood better than anyone why he wanted to be there. “I’m sorry Winn, but I need you behind that desk, feeding me information and helping me to get Kara into a safe place, free of civilians,” the older Danvers gave her friend a pleading look.

Realising that Alex was right, the technician agreed. “I think a good place would be Lex’s abandoned lab.”

“I agree, that was the plan.”

“But how are you going to lure Kara there? Is not like we can just ask her to come.”

“That’s where you come in,” Alex sighed. “I need you to create a fake message which says that Lillian and Cyborg Superman are attempting to return to the labs and then send it to Kara.”

“Oh, so all I have to do is fake a transmission and trick _Supergirl_ into believing that _a Luthor_ would be so stupid as to return to the last place you almost caught her at. Yeah, sure, why not?”

“If there’s anyone who can do it, that’s you Winn.”

“You bet your ass Danvers. Now go get our girl back.”

Alex smiled in return making the atmosphere lighter, but J’onn had something else entirely in mind. “You have 15 minutes, agent Schott, so we better have that transmission when we get to the lab.”

“Oh man!” Winn exclaimed as he put on his headphones and turned to his computer.

In the meantime J’onn returned to Alex to help her get ready. The brunette was deciding if she should equip the Kryptonite sword or not. “Hey Alex,” the Martian said as he shook his head at the brunette’s silent question. “We’re going in to get your sister back, there’s no need for that.”

“I thought the most important thing was to protect everyone in National City,” the brunette replied, not relenting the grip on the blade.

“And that’s what we’re going to do. Your sister is one of those people.”

With his last words Alex was able to place the sword back into its container, and then she turned back to the DEO director, keen on changing the subject. “I’m sorry I took charge back there with Winn. I know it was not my place to do so.”

“Don’t be. I couldn’t have come with a better plan myself, and you are the person who knows Kara the best. It’s your show, Alex.”

“I-,” the brunette had to gulp before finishing her thought, trying so hard to keep her emotions in check. “I’m not sure that’s really Kara right now. From what Lena said, Kara is-,” she could not finish that sentence.

“Then let’s get your sister back.”

 

***

 

“Winn, we’re in position and waiting for you, so you better have something for me,” came Alex’s voice over the comm.

“Just a… second… and… The transmission’s out. Yuhu!”

“You want to tell me what you did?”

“Well, I hacked into the security feeds from Lillian’s time in prison and everything that we had on Cadmus. Using a high-tech programme I was able to take parts of already recorded speech to combine them into a message, and then broadcasted it using all the radio stations and satellites around National City. We really need to have a chat with the owners to increase their firewalls. It took me less than 30 seconds to access them.”

“But how are you sure Kara’s going to pick them up?”

“Do you doubt me, Danvers? I encrypted the transmission on a frequency that only Kara can hear, which also happens to be the frequency best received by the Kryptonians.”

“Good job, Winn,” Alex said in a tone that lacked conviction.

“What do you mean _‘good job, Winn’_? Winn did a great job, Winn is a genius. Giving a little praise every now and then won’t hurt your image of a badass, Alex.”

“Winn?!” Came the impatient tone of Alex’s voice. “I don’t have time right now, Kara’s here!”

 

* * *

 

When Lena heard Alex say that her girlfriend was there, her green eyes shot to the monitors that were providing the security feeds from outside the lab. Thanks to the DEO agents offering her one of the earbuds they were all wearing, the brunette also had audio. Having a closer look at the blonde, Lena saw that her eyes were having a constant red hue now, most probably caused by the fact that she realised that she was lured into a trap.

Despite knowing that she should continue looking for something to explain why Lillian wanted Supergirl and the DEO occupied on something else, it was hard to pry her eyes from the monitors or to subtract herself from the conversation that was happening on the surface above her.

J’onn was still in the human form he adopted, and needing something to redirect her anger at, that was the first thing that came into Kara’s mind. “J’onn J’onzz… If I can even call you that since you prefer to constantly hide who you are. You just assume a human's persona and go by the name of Hank Henshaw to try and fool people that you are one of them by blending in? Or maybe you are just a coward, afraid to embrace who you are so that the same people that killed your family and murdered your entire race don’t come _hunting_ for you.”

Taking advantage of the fact that Kara choose to go against J’onn, Alex was trying to get into the position to fire her weapon and take her sister by surprise. Even though the Kryptonian was absorbed in her verbal attack against the Martian, Alex knew that if Kara could see the weapon loading to fire up, she could easily avoid being hit. Luckily her sister did not pay any attention to her, continuing talking to the other alien.

Kara’s disturbing laugh reverberated all over them and went straight into Lena’s ear, distracting her again from her goal.

“Isn’t it ironic? You call yourself Martian _Manhunter_ when you are the only one being hunted. You fled Mars and came to Earth to live as a superhero when you should have died with your family and entire race.”

“If I’m not mistaken, _Kara Zor-El_ , you left your planet when the rest of your people died with Krypton’s destruction. We’re not so different you and I.”

“You are wrong,” Kara’s eyes and veins in her neck flashed a bright red with that angry remark, and that alone made Lena go back to finding some answers, even though she could clearly hear her girlfriend. “I’m nothing like the coward you are! I didn’t abandon my family to their fate, I came here to protect the only one that I had left.”

“Ah, yes, Kal-El. That’s a noble goal. But Kal didn’t need your protection, and when you realised that there was still something you could do to protect the ones you love and innocent lives, you became Supergirl. And even though you are Supergirl, you still are at the same time Kara Danvers. The only difference between you and I is that you already look like a human.”

“I. said. I. am. nothing. like. you! So, show yourself, Martian, and let’s settle this once and for all.”

Seeing that Alex was almost ready to fire her gun and how Kara did not really give him an alternative, J’onn decided to shift to his normal form. As the blonde was approaching him, J’onn brought himself to his full height of 6’7”, towering over Kara with more than one foot.

Despite the big height difference, the Kryptonian was still the first to throw a punch that took J’onn by surprise, pushing him away 3 feet as he tried to recover from the blow. It had been a while since anyone really posed any threat to him, but if Alex did not get that weapon ready soon, he knew that their fight would at least leave him sore by the next day.

J’onn did not want to hurt Kara, just like he told Alex, so he settled for deflecting her hits or phasing through the ones that he could not avoid. That only managed to enrage Kara further, making the red Kryptonite inside take even more control over her reasoning, disregarding any possible consequences to her actions.

Aware that J’onn’s plan was to buy some time to use whatever weapon the DEO had on her, Kara made it impossible for that to happen. She increased the pace to super-human speed, giving Martian Manhunter a harder time to keep the pace with her, and ensuring that no human could even see what was happening. To make it even more difficult, the blonde took the battle into the air, using her incredible strength to deal J’onn some blows that staggered him, the last being an uppercut to his jaw that propelled him into the air. Despite all that, not even the new rhythm could make him hurt Kara, even though he was now taking quite the beating.

As their fight continued, Martian Manhunter realised that the only way to make Kara relent was to use the weapon on her, which meant that he had to fight back. He still could not bring himself to hit Kara, but he alternated between his intangibility powers and shifting his density up to the molecular level of his body when he could not avoid Kara’s punches instead. That meant that the force the Kryptonian was putting behind each blow was being reflected back as his body solidified to a density bigger than the steel’s.

After a few of those exchanges, Kara stopped, allowing J’onn to preserve his energy which was getting low due to the constant transformations he was putting his body through. Realising what he was trying to do, Kara went back at it, but before she could even touch Martian Manhunter, he became invisible and phased out of the way. Even though the combination of both abilities at once took a toll on his body, escaping Kara’s sight was helping him on the long run.

“Are you hiding again, J’onn? You do realise that I could use my vision to look for anomalies in the wavelengths around you, so invisibility alone would not help you. I could also listen for your breath or for your heartbeat, so the only way to hide like the coward you are is if you phase out. And sooner or later, you’ll get tired.”

All the time Kara was talking, J’onn linked his mind to Alex’s using telepathy to tell her to fire while Kara was distracted. Alex’s main concern was the fact that they were high into the air and her weapon did not have a great accuracy long ranged. The DEO agent hesitated at first, which made Martian Manhunter be forced to do what Kara said in order to keep her distracted. The incentive Alex had to take the shot was the strain on J’onn body that she could feel through their telepathic connection.

Luckily for them, Alex’s aim was true and Kara did not have time to avoid the beam which hit her in the back. Just like the first time, everyone expected the effects of the red Kryptonite to end and for the Kryptonian to collapse, but to their surprise it had no outcome other than to anger the blonde further.

Tired of playing games and being mad at her own sister, Kara charged the brunette, who only had time to shield herself with her hands and block the attack. Thanks to the Kryptonite suit, Kara did not have her full strength, or maybe part of her did not want to hurt Alex, even though the agent attributed it to the suit she was wearing.

Before she could do any more damage, Kara found herself sliding over the pavement which was breaking under her body, pushed by J’onn’s optic blast. When she recovered, she was met with the Martian who was ready to take her on a full fight and Kara was eager to accept the challenge. She did not give him any chance to try and talk her down before she responded with her own ray of heat vision.

Realising that Kara finally used the only ability which she possessed that could end his life, J’onn used his telekinetic abilities to create a psionic shield to block the concentrated rays. After a few more attempts to hit him, Kara changed tactics and aimed for Alex instead, the brunette being too busy to speak over the comm in order to jump out of the way.

Before the ray could hit Alex, Martian Manhunter used his mental abilities to manipulate the subatomic particles of the beam and redirect it from the brunette. Unfortunately, that left him vulnerable to Kara’s next attack which hit him straight in the chest, leaving a scorching mark covering more than half of his upper body. With J’onn on the ground, unable to fight back, Alex was in an immediate danger.

 

* * *

 

In the moment Lena heard that the gun designed by Maxwell had no effect, she instantly understood why. When Alex ran the plan by her earlier and she saw the weapon, the CEO realised that this was a possibility if the molecular composition of Lex’s red Kryptonite was different from the synthetic one created by Maxwell. That was why she was currently searching through all the files Lex had on Kryptonians. When she found the one about the rock that landed on Earth after the destruction of Krypton, Lena confirmed her theory that this was a natural formed rock with a delayed effect which was creating a chemical imbalance in Kara’s brain, explaining her behaviour.

Normally Lena would have used the same principle as Maxwell to reverse the effect of the rock in her girlfriend, but she was already running out of time to come up with a chemical solution with the opposite effects, as Kara charged at her own sister.

Knowing that there was nothing she could do without the rock in question, Lena started searching the lab for it, without any luck. Thinking fast she powered off the main generator, which took off the lights until the auxiliary power kicked in. The few seconds she had in between were enough to bathe the room in darkness, which allowed her to look for the faint red glow coming from underneath one of the equipment.

Now the only thing left to do was to create a reversible reaction using the tiny piece of rock that started all this. Thinking about the situation, Lena realised that she needed a way to actually reverse the effect if she could find anything in Lex’s lab to actually project the Kryptonite’s effects.

Remembering the things she found the first time she went through Lex’s lab, Lena knew the best way to weaponize her device. What she had in mind also made things easier, meaning that she did not need to find a catalyst to speed up the effects so that Kara could be herself instantly.

Time being of the essence, Lena started running towards the rack that contained Lex’s energy weapons and grabbed a laser rifle, took out the fusion cell and fixed the Kryptonite instead, so that the internal capacitor could concentrate the beam of coherent light and spread the effects. The only thing she needed was the tiny device that looked like a lens from Maxwell’s gun that would create the reverse reaction.

Out of breath already, Lena ran for the exit, telling Alex over the comm to have the missing part ready. She got outside right on time to see J’onn being hit and Kara shifting her attention towards her own sister. The blonde was ready to strike when Lena shouted her name, momentarily distracting her.

It was the opportunity J’onn needed for Kara’s mental barriers to falter just enough so that the Martian could access her mind and stop her from doing more harm. Kara was surprisingly strong for an already injured J’onn, so he could not hold her for too long.

With her endurance running low, Martian Manhunter managed to see Alex passing the missing piece to Lena who equipped it on her rifle and fired. When the energy beam hit the Kryptonian, J’onn was able to feel the chemical reaction in Kara’s brain which undid the previous effects. With his mission achieved, the Martian broke the connection he maintained with Kara, which left both of them exhausted and drifting to unconsciousness.

After Alex checked both of them for their viral signs and confirmed that they were both alive and out of any immediate danger, she allowed herself a relieved laugh. “That was close, Lena, but I’m glad everything’s back to normal.”

Expecting the other woman to be as excited as she was, Alex realised that something was wrong when Lena kept staring into the distance. “Hey, what’s wrong? What’s the matter?” The agent asked concerned.

“I found what my mother was after all this time, and why she went through all this trouble to keep us distracted,” the CEO said impassibly.

“What was she after?”

“Not what, who?”

 

* * *

 

In an old hallway of a decrepit mental asylum, the only noise on top of the broken ceiling lights was the rhythm of Lillian Luthor’s heels on the ceramic floor. She entered the room at the end of the hallway, the only one of importance, followed by Cyborg Superman.

Seeing the reason for her visit hooked up to machines in the middle of the room, she took a moment to study the man suffering from dwarfism and, as Lex’s files said, several mental illnesses, before ordering Hank Henshaw to take him out of the catatonic state he was in. She then pulled a chair and took a seat at the edge of his bed, not bothering to undo the ties that bounded the man to the bed.

It took several moments for the stranger to come back to consciousness and the first thing he did was to assess the situation. “You don’t look like someone who put me up in here. Who are you?” The man demanded despite his cracking voice.

“The only person who can grant you your freedom.”

“Tell me why I shouldn’t take control over your mind, old woman, and then get my freedom anyway?”

“Because thanks to this,” Lillian pointed to a device on her head meant to shield her mind from mental control, “you can’t use your powers, which are also depleted, on me. So, I am your only help, mister Cizko.”

“Do I know you?” Mr. Cizko narrowed his eyes trying to assess Lillian.

“No, but we have a common… friend.”

“Who?”

“My son, Lex Luthor.”

With a disturbing grin on his face, Mr. Cizko freed himself from the bonds before addressing Lillian. “Oh, this is going to be interesting… And please, call me Doctor Psycho.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, few things that I wanted to say…  
> 1)I went with the actual heights of the original comic books characters and not of the actors because I figured that having Kara at 5’5” and J’onn at 6’7” in that scene was so much better as a visual!
> 
> 2)Protocol 10 is inspired by a contingency plan with the same name from the video game Batman: Arkam Knight.
> 
> 3)For the weapon created by Lena I want to say that I don’t have any engineering skills. I just used basic Chemistry and Physics knowledge from the classes back in high-school, and a bit more of the knowledge regarding energy weapons from the video game Fallout 4.  
> And yes, I realise that’s a lot of inspiration from video games, but I’m a gamer so that’s bound to happen in everything I do!
> 
> 4)I do realise that Doctor Psycho is Wonder Woman’s villain, but he was a key member of Lex’s Secret Society of Super Villains, the evil equivalent of Justice League if you want. He also seems like a really fun character to write, and with so many amazing and badass women in this show, who’s a better villain than an obsessive and insane misogynist who hates women and has _a lot_ of cool abilities? I think I'll enjoy writing him, in the same way Martian Manhunter was incredibly fun to write due to all of his powers. 
> 
> Again, any thoughts you might have are also appreciated. You guys rock!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay people, I _know_ this chapter is shorter than what it should have been after all this hiatus, but I wrote in the last couple of hours more than I wrote in a whole month so... Progress?  
>  I do apologise for the wait, but I didn't want to force something that wasn't happening because it wouldn't have made justice to you guys. I do hope that what I wrote it the end tries to do justice to all of you, lovely readers. My intention was to go deeper into the emotional part of what happened in the last couple of chapters and allow the characters to sort through their issues. So uhm, I guess there's angst and a whole lot of hurt and emotional vulnerability… But also like comfort and healing?  
> Uhm... enjoy?
> 
> Annien
> 
> P.S: The most unbelievable thing happened between the last chapter and this one... This story got more than 10k views, even more than 11.5k! I swear it's bewildering and I could never thank all of you enough for the joy this brings me. I try to do that by giving the best that I have and put a piece of me (or maybe more tbh) in everything I write. I hope it conveys my deep appreciation.

Chapter 9 

 

Lena Luthor was in one of the DEO’s labs, analysing the gun she used on her girlfriend not long before. Giving the haste in which she had to work to stop Kara before she would hurt someone she cared about, the brunette wanted to make sure that she succeeded in removing the effect of the red Kryptonite.

It was the second time she was going over the same data, but her head was not at what she had to do. Her thoughts were a mess and everywhere at once, and it was hard to make sense of any of them. The only thing they had in common was Kara. Was Kara alright? Where did they stand? Will they be able to come back from all of this? Did Kara even want that? Did she? Will they ever speak again? If that was not Kara but the red Kryptonite talking, why did she still feel hurt? Was she responsible for speeding up the effects of the rock and for the tragedy that came too close to happening?

Before she could go even deeper into her own mind Lena was interrupted by Alex, and she was grateful for that. The DEO agent was quietly standing by the door, leaning on the frame and waiting for her to make the first move. With a small smile and a nod of her head, Lena invited her in.

“Hey, I just wanted to check up on you. How are you?” The older Danvers spoke first.

“Why, are you afraid that I would run without saying goodbye?” The other woman tried to deflect the question about her well-being.

Realising what Lena did, Alex played her game to lighten the atmosphere. “The thought did cross my mind.”

Lena let out a chuckle at that, and for the first time in a while the smile reached her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll sign all the paperwork you give to the ones who shouldn’t be aware of this top secret agency before I leave.”

“Hmm, it’s almost like you did this before,” Alex raised an eyebrow, thing that made Lena smile again. It felt good to be around each other, bonded over their love and concern for Kara. Speaking of those said concerns…

Lena’s smile faltered and her tone became serious again in the very next moment. No matter what her thoughts and feelings were on the matter, Kara’s safety was her main priority. “Hey Alex, I wanted to check but I was busy doing this analysis. How is Kara? And J’onn?”

“J’onn took a serious blow that left a major part of his chest scorched, but the Martians have regenerative abilities, and we are currently facilitating his recovery. He looks like he’s going to be back on his feet in a few days. As for Kara, the energy ray drained all her powers so we had to put her in a solar bed. As much as J’onn didn’t want to fight back, Kara still took some hits. Nothing serious though,” she hastily added when she saw the concerned look on Lena’s face. “Her invulnerability will kick in once she will get her strength back. We also took some blood tests to see if there’s any trace of red Kryptonite in her blood stream, but the results won’t be back sooner than 4 hours. Kara’s still asleep for now, but if she wakes up and…” the agent trailed off without finishing that thought. “What did you get from your studies?” Alex asked while stepping closer to the CEO.

“I ran a chemical analysis on the Kryptonite and on the modified ray, and checked the weapon twice now. I don’t have a sample of Kryptonian tissue to know for sure, but from what the numbers show it would be safe to assume that Kara’s free from the effects. Here, take a look,” the brunette offered Alex the results.

A crease appeared on Alex’s forehead before she voiced her fears. “I trust your calculations are accurate, but even so it all depends on how long a subject was exposed to the Kryptonite and the time it took for the antidote to be administrated. Oh but wait, the absorption rate it’s the biggest factor here. Like you said, without running the test on a tissue sample we cannot know for sure.”

“The absorption rate would be the biggest unknown in this equation, that’s for sure, but I don’t think it’s a factor in here. I also had Winn look over the data and he agrees with me. Because the Kryptonite from Lex’s lab is naturally formed, it takes some time to reach its full effects. Normally, that would also be the case for the reverse action in the lack of any catalyst to speed up the process. I said ‘normally’ because I don’t think is the case here. Read over the weapon’s schematic and let me know what you think.”

After a couple of minutes of getting technical with the way the weapon was built and its components, Alex finally understood what Lena was saying. “Ah, I see. The energy that passed through the Kryptonite was then processed through a wave and particle diverter which in turn sped up the process. That means that Kara should be back to her normal self when she wakes up.”

“Yes, she shouldn’t feel any of the previous effects.”

Silence set between the two women and Alex could feel that something did not sit quite right with the CEO. “You know, you still evaded my question about how you’re feeling,” the agent expressed with concern clear in her voice.

Lena did not say anything because she did not know what to say, thing that the Alex realised. “I don’t know how I would be if my parents would’ve done what Lillian did, but you are not alone in this. Even though we might not know each other as good as we’d want, I’m here for you if you need anything. And despite everything, Kara’s there for you as well.”

At the mention of her girlfriend, Lena shied away, a pained look on her face.

“Look,” Alex tried to offer some comfort, “I don’t know what happened between the two of you or what Kara did to hurt you, but you know that wasn’t her. I’ve known Kara ever since we were kids and she always cared about all the people in her life, but I never saw her care for anyone as she does for you. It’s also clear that you return her feelings. Normally I wouldn’t think anyone would be deserving of my sister, but you understand her and make her happier than I ever saw her be. And that says _a lot_ because she’s usually a rainbow of happiness.”

Lena let out a shy laugh at how accurate Alex was. When the agent saw that she made her point she pushed even further. “Go talk to her. Whatever you decide to do, you both need to be around each other right now.”

“I’m sorry, Alex. I can’t. I-,” Lena shielded her gaze away not knowing how to continue or, more accurately, if to continue. For a moment, she wanted to change her mind and take the older Danvers up on her offer, but she was not sure if she would be able to bear the outcome of the conversation that was bound to happen if she stuck around. After the last few days she did not know if she would be able to come back from another moment that would possibly drain her emotionally. “The only thing that I managed to get from Lex’s encrypted files was that this Edgar Cizko is a really powerful telepath. And if I know Lillian she will use him against Kara and anyone who goes against her. I need to find out more before it’s too late. I cannot lose her.”

Even though Alex understood the importance of knowing what they were up against, she knew that was not the reason why Lena did not want to wait until Kara was conscious again. She also knew from experience that when her sister would wake up she would feel responsible for everything that happened. “Lena, Kara will blame herself for what happened and you not being here could destroy her. She needs you now more than ever. We can worry later about whatever your mother is planning.”

“I know Alex, but she’ll need her sister more than she’ll need me, trust me on that. We didn’t have the best couple of days. She’ll be vulnerable enough as it is, I don’t want to make it worse,” the CEO said with a sigh and then made a pause as to consider something. With a nod as to convince herself, she continued. “Kara will understand. Call me when she’s out of danger.”

Not satisfied with Lena’s choice – or understanding her reasoning – Alex murmured an ‘ _I will_ ’ and then watched disapprovingly as the woman left.

 

* * *

 

When Kara regained consciousness she was quickly overwhelmed by everything that happened since she came into contact with the red Kryptonite. Her neural pathways felt like they were on fire as she relived all her thoughts and emotions at once. Kara experienced those moments again, this time aware of what was happening. She felt trapped in her own brain, forced to watch as she was voicing thoughts that she knew were untrue and have her heart filled with anger, hatred and mockery that had no prejudice.

It all happened in a split of a second, but somehow it felt like it was in real time. When it all ended, Kara could only think that she argued with the people she loved – again. That she fought with J’onn – again. And that she came close to doing the unspeakable and hurting Alex – _again._ Tears started streaming down her face until she felt a gentle touch on her hand. When she saw who it was, Kara got reassured that Alex was safe and unharmed, thing that made her tears subside. It did not take long for the brunette to pull her into a hug, and even though it made her wince in pain it felt good. Despite the fact that she could feel her sister’s tears crawling down her face, it was like she could breathe for the first time since she woke up. Alex’s presence was bringing her back and tethering her to reality, giving her hope despite all the pain and guilt she was feeling.

They continued to hold onto each other for a little longer and when Alex pulled back, Kara immediately expressed her concern about her friends, fighting to keep back her sobs. “Alex, how’s J’onn? This-this time I can remember everything and I hit him with my heat vision, Alex. And I was so close to do the same to you. And I got Lena kicked out of her company, and then we fought and I told her that everything Lillian said was right and I-“

“Shhh,” the older sister interrupted, “everything is going to be alright. What matters is that you are back to normal and that you are safe. Things will get better just like they did the last time, okay? J’onn woke up already and with his regeneration he’ll be back giving everyone orders in no time. We all love you and no one blames you for what happened. It wasn’t you, it was Cadmus.”

“This time I remember all of it so maybe it was me!” The blonde protested.

“Kara, listen to me. J’onn was inside your mind and he assured me that when you touched the Kryptonite some neural reactions in your brain were inverted. He felt the process being reverted when Lena hit you with the antidote. It wasn’t you, please don’t blame yourself.”

Hearing her sister’s explanation made Kara’s guilt mostly subside and her thoughts stopped storming in her head. It was like all the alarms went off and she could finally think clearly. When her frantic breathing evened out and the fogginess left her eyes, Alex was certain that she knew what Kara was going to ask next and she did not like it. She had her confirmation seconds later. “Where’s Lena? I think I need to speak with her.”

Not wanting to break the blonde’s heart, Alex tried stalling until she could call the Luthor and convince her to come back. “She figured out what Lillian’s next move is and she’s trying to get more leads on that. As your doctor, I think you should get some rest before you are ready for visitors.”

“I’m fine Alex, I just need to see her. I promise I’ll stay in bed.”

Without realising, the brunette gulped before speaking, thing that did not go unnoticed by the Kryptonian. “You’re still weak, Kara. You can talk later with Lena and anyone you want.”

Kara held her sister’s gaze for a longer moment, feeling that something was amiss. When she spoke next her tone was serious, sharp even. “What aren’t you telling me, Alex? I know you, so I know when you’re hiding something from me. What is it?”

The agent took a deep breath trying to force the words out, but the only thing she managed was, “Kara, Lena was here but…”

“She left, didn’t she?” The blonde tried to be stoic maintaining her tone of voice neutral even as tears were forming in her eyes. When Alex responded affirmatively, her jaw started trembling and the tears ran freely down her cheeks.

Alex desperately wanted to say or do anything to comfort Kara, but it was the first time when she did not know how to help her sister, the first time when she could not think of anything to say. As the moments passed by and she helplessly watched her sister cry, she could feel her own heart starting to break. Realising that her own tears and her own pain could not come close to what Kara was feeling made her even more desperate and she was close to going after the Luthor herself. But reasoning won and Alex realised that Kara needed support, just like she needed her sister when her heart got broken when Maggie rejected her. Gathering strength from their sibling bond, she reached her hand and took Kara’s into her own. That made the blonde focus on her sister and on what she was saying.

“She just needs some time, okay? She convinced herself that being away from you would somehow make you feel better. Lena loves you, she just doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“No, Alex. She left because I hurt her. I was mean and I knew exactly what to say to exploit her fears and insecurities.” Kara managed to blurt out.

Alex found herself speechless once more, thing that made Kara lose all hope. She kept repeating in her head almost like a chant ‘ _she left, she left_ ’, and without knowing, some of it got past her lips in a broken voice. “L-Lena left. She left me. She…”

“She stayed,” came from the entrance, a few feet away from them.

Kara was both shocked and relieved when she heard Lena speak, her voice strong despite the tears in her eyes. At first she could not believe her eyes, but when she saw her sister’s thankful and eased expression she knew that her mind was not playing any tricks on her.

The whole med bay was bathed in complete silence until Lena spoke again, her eyes stuck on the beautiful blonde. “Can I come in?”

“Y-yes, of course!” Kara said, her voice still shaking.

Before Lena could reach Kara’s solar bed though, Alex stood up and addressed the blonde. “I’m gonna go and give you guys some privacy. Just take it easy and call me if there’s anything wrong.”

“I will,” her sister assured her.

When Alex passed the CEO she murmured an almost pleading ‘ _thank you_ ’ and then saw Lena give her a guilty smile.

As soon as the agent was out of the door and Lena reached her bed, Kara stood up on shaking feet and pulled her girlfriend into a tight embrace, burying her head in her shoulder. The only thing that stopped her from collapsing on the floor were Lena’s fast reflexes as she steadied her.

“Hey, hey, shhh. Easy… Easy, I’m here,” Lena whispered to the blonde while painting soothing circles with her hands on her girlfriend’s back. “I didn’t leave, Kara, I couldn’t. I could never leave you.”

Hearing those words she wished so hard to be true just moments ago finally broke Kara’s resilience. She strengthened her hold on Lena’s shirt, wrinkling it under her fingers while tears were forming in her eyes again. For the first time that day, the blonde realised that those were tears of joy.

Kara still felt weak and had problems keeping her balance, so Lena encouraged her to sit down. “Lie down, Kara, you’re still recuperating.”

Fearing that Lena might not be there if she let go of her, Kara protested, vehemently shaking her head and almost pleading against that. “No, I don’t want to. What if you…”

“I won’t Kara. I’m here, okay? I got you.” To emphasise her words, Lena dipped one hand behind Kara’s knees and lifted the blonde in her arms. She then kissed Kara’s forehead and settled on the solar bed with her girlfriend’s body resting both against and on top of hers.

When Kara realised that Lena was going to stay with her, she settled her head between the crook of the brunette’s neck and her chest, pressing her ear above Lena’s beating heart. The steady and rhythmic beats of her girlfriend’s heart, combined with Lena’s soft hands caressing her back and hair, and Lena’s warm breath against her forehead was calming her, mending her heart one piece at the time.

After a few minutes of peace in which their breaths synchronised Lena spoke, her words whispers against Kara’s ear. “I’m sorry, Kara. I’m sorry for everything. For not being here when you woke up and causing you so much pain... For the way I acted after the meeting and then again back home... You didn’t deserve that, and all of this is my fault.”

“There’s nothing to apologise for, Lena. And how can it be your fault when I was the one who said those horrible things to you?” Kara lifted her head to look her girlfriend in the eyes, her own being filled with guilt and concern.

Despite all that Kara said, Lena only gave her a loving smile and straightened the crease that formed on Kara’s forehead with her thumb. “That wasn’t you, Kara. People usually claim that they don’t mean what they say in an argument, and for you it’s completely true. But I acted the way I did without the influence of any Kryptonite. _I_ am the only one that needs to ask for forgiveness.”

“Even if it was the Kryptonite or not, what I said hurt you. Stop trying to ignore that. You don’t have to push down your own feelings for my sake, Lena. It might’ve been what you used to do, but no more. You matter to me, and your feelings matter as well. Accepting what you feel and my role in that is not being vulnerable and it won’t drive me away either. It’s the way you will heal. It’s the way we will.”

To be met with so much understanding and love after everything they went through, after all that she went through in her life, was new to Lena and it was shaking her to the core. She could not believe the compassion that Kara was showing her and she never thought that she would be blessed enough to find such love. Emotions were taking over her body, one of them specifically burning in her chest. The brunette tried finding words to describe what she was feeling, but she could not find any. There were no words great enough to do Kara justice, maybe only three of them.

Looking deep into those cerulean eyes that sparkled just like the clouds before lightning hit them, Lena knew that together they would get out of every storm. Not wanting even a second to pass without her girlfriend knowing what she meant to her, the brunette closed the distance that was separating them and whispered ‘ _I love you_ ’ against Kara’s lips before she gently pressed her own against them.

When they kissed, both women could feel the shattered threads that connected their souls mend again. The new bonds seemed to be even stronger than they were before; they were unbreakable. When they collided, Kara’s invincibility and Lena’s unconquerable spirit became one, and together they could stand in front of the adversities of life undefeated. In that moment, together they became _invincible, unconquerable, undefeated_ … _Invictus_.

When they pulled back from the kiss, Kara smiled against Lena’s lips and genuinely returned the confession. “And I love you.” They enjoyed a few more moments of being content before Kara opened her eyes and encouraged Lena to do the same. “Now take me _home._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Explanation time? Feel free to skip this, I realised it's just me rambling - nothing to do with the chapter, but a sample of how my reasoning works when I write...  
> .  
> .  
> .  
>  _Are you sure you still want to read??!_  
> .  
> .  
> .  
>  Ok I warned you... So I actually thought of Lena leaving and Alex going after her when she wouldn't be able to make Kara feel 100% better - giving the fact that she would worry about the state of their relationship - but when I was writing it I just couldn't do that, you know? 
> 
> Pfff... Confession time? I personally feel close to Lena, so I felt that just like me she would have moments when she would say "screw it, I just want to forget everything" and then walk off... But, just like in my case, there would be no conviction behind those words. So, Lena didn't leave. Instead of taking care of herself she pushed past everything that she was feeling because she knew that Kara needed her, and she had to be strong for her gf. Just like she did all her life... The series is called Invictus for a reason - that's how I see Lena.  
> But I also didn't want to neglect Lena and I don't think Kara would allow her to do the same with her own feelings. I think that they understand and care about each other enough to work through their issues without one of them needing to put on the brave act and sacrifice a bit of themselves for the other's sake.  
> I personally think Lena would do that because I guess she already did. My favourite scene (the same one that started this whole story) is the one from 2x08 when Kara goes to Lena as Supergirl and asks for her help to stop Lillian. Lena was already hurt by her mother that day in the conversation they had, she then went through a near-death experience, and maybe she was also hurt by Kara's way of fishing for information. So, when Supergirl showed up she was forced to accept that, just like Lex, Lillian was the one responsible for her almost demise, which most probably brought up the same hurt and betrayal she experienced with her brother. But despite all that she put on a brave face and did the right thing. I might be overthinking this, but it's my personal interpretation.  
> So she stayed, they talked, solved through some of their feelings and problems, comforted each other, and then went home together and offered/received some more support. It's not all rainbows and sunshine yet, but they are working on it, and most importantly they are going through it _together._
> 
>  
> 
> Ok, ok, sorry, I know I should stop. I swear it took me longer to write this than half of the whole chapter… and it's also personal rather than professional... and yes, I'm stopping here.
> 
>  
> 
> Uhm, leave a comment below with your thoughts?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Does anyone here still remember that I write? In case you forgot that (which is highly plausible), here’s a short, but long overdue chapter. 
> 
> Annien
> 
> P.S: This chapter’s rating should be M because of Kara and Lena reconnecting after all the angst [especially] the last chapter brought.

Chapter 10

 

Lena listened to Kara’s wishes to get out of the med bay and go somewhere more familiar and warming. Even though Kara was not fully recovered and none of her super-human abilities returned, the couple managed to convince Alex to discharge Kara.

When they stepped out of the DEO HQ, Kara was pleasantly surprised to see that Lena was not accompanied by her driver. The shock came only after she saw to what car the set of keys from the brunette’s hands belonged to.

As the scissor doors lifted, Kara realised that she was about to get in a matte dark grey Jaguar C-X75. When she got in and laid her eyes on the white interior, the high-tech dashboard and the sides of the doors that were illuminated in a light blue colour, she could not believe what was happening.

Lena got into the driver’s seat and powered on the car, the engine starting with a bass-heavy sound that was warning of its raw power. Before getting on the road, the brunette turned on the radio and Lana Del Rey’s _Young and Beautiful_ started playing.

Kara settled in the comfortable and spacious seat as Lena took the car out of the parking lot. “If someone would have told me a few hours ago that I would be now in my girlfriend’s supercar, listening to good music, I wouldn’t have believed them.”

“Which part, the music or the car?” Lena asked with a smirk.

“The car... I already knew about your taste in music. But I didn’t expect you to drive a car like this. I figured you’d be more of a limousine-like type of girl.”

“You forget that I’m an engineer, honey.”

“So, you like driving sports cars then?”

“You’re really asking me that question? Kara, the technology in this _hypercar_ is really impressive. It uses Formula 1 technology to have the closest performance to a Bugatti Veyron and it emits as much as a Toyota Prius. And because it’s a hybrid car, it has two electrical engines on top of a petrol one that together produce 850 horsepower.”

“Yeah, I – uhm – don’t know exactly what that means.”

Hearing the song change to _Ride_ from the same artist, a wicked idea formed in Lena’s mind. “Oh, I’ll show you exactly what that means.”

Without hesitation, Lena changed their route and pulled onto an empty road that took them on the motorway. When the wheels touched the flawless asphalt, she put the car into the race mode. That made it drop down two inches on the hydro-pneumatic suspension and powered the rear spoiler out of its hood and lifted it almost a foot above the body in order the change the aerodynamics and have more downforce.

The very next moment, Lena put the acceleration to the floor. She lifted off the throttle on the corner turn-in and Kara was surprised to be pushed back into the chair. The blonde was accustomed to flying at high speeds, but something about her being left without her superpowers and experiencing the force the car was producing felt great. Even without her superior senses she could hear the air howling as it was being pulled into the side scoops mounted at the back of the doors.

Lena was not content to leave things like that, she wanted to impress her girlfriend. Kara finally understood what the brunette meat earlier, or more likely felt it, as the big turbo engines started spinning in earnest. As Lena shifted gears for the last time, Kara realised that they were in the seventh one, but she did not feel any thrust, everything running smoothly and seamlessly. The engine was revving and purring like big feline, while Kara felt like flying.

Looking to her left, she saw her girlfriend relax, making everything seem so effortless. Wanting to enjoy being normal for as long as it lasted, Kara closed her eyes and allowed herself to loosen up on the music.

When the blonde let out a contented sigh, Lena realised that she accomplished what she set up to do. The CEO knew that it was reckless to take her eyes off the road while driving so fast, but it was extremely difficult to tear them away from her girlfriend. Kara looked so beautiful with her head tipped back, despite the dirt from her cheeks and the dishevelled hair. With a bite of her lower lips she focused back on the road, but not before resting her right hand on Kara’s thigh.

Kara opened her eyes and looked at the driver, instantly realising what thought must have been crossing through her girlfriend’s mind. Deciding to test Lena’s focus, Kara mimicked the CEO and placed her hand on Lena’s thigh.

The brunette’s heart skipped a beat and she had to take a sharp breath when she felt the blonde’s hand starting to caress her upper thigh. Even so, she did not do anything to remove it, thing that made Kara continue. The Kryptonian moved her fingers on the inner side of Lena’s thigh and the CEO had to gulp in order to stop her hips from moving.

She tried focusing on the road or on the music – on anything really – just not the slow and torturous rhythm her girlfriend adopted. She thought for a moment to stop the car and turn her attention on Kara, but she knew that they were playing a silent game, one that she planned on winning. If she was able to resist until she reached the house, she knew that she would have the chance at revenge. Imagining the role reversal was giving her the motivation she needed to continue, but it did not do anything against her mouth going dry.

Lena really felt the need to open a window, take a deep breath of fresh air and cool down, but that would tell Kara how much she was affected by her ministrations. Instead, she brought her other hand on the steering wheel and put the car back in the seventh gear. Before the song ended, Lena found herself exiting the motorway. The thought that soon enough she would feel gravel under the wheels made everything bearable.

Kara realised that they were close to their destination, so she moved her hand higher, lifting Lena’s shirt in order for her fingers to make direct contact with skin. The brunette tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she took the last corner, grateful to have something to do with her hands. Before Kara could grip her girlfriend’s hips, the car came to a stop in front of Lena’s mansion. The blonde removed her hand with a pout, thing that made the CEO release the breath she was holding and relax her muscles.

She did not take a break though, because in the next moment the engine powered off and she got out of the car, ready to open the door for Kara. The brunette extended her hand to help her girlfriend step out of the car, but instead of walking toward the mansion, Lena pinned Kara against the car, her own body pressed against her girlfriend’s. After a moment of looking deep into those soft blue eyes, Lena reached in for a passionate kiss that stole the Kryptonian’s breath away.

They parted for air, but Lena was not keen on stopping. She started kissing Kara’s jawline, her neck and then slowly made her way up, whispering into her ear. “It’s getting cold out here. We should go inside and let me take care of you.”

Looking forward to whatever Lena had in mind, Kara took her hand and followed her inside, allowing the brunette to guide her through the house. Lena initially wanted to stop in the kitchen and prepare Kara something to eat, but the blonde did not have an appetite. They headed for the bedroom instead, and Kara’s heart started beating frantically in her chest.

“Why don’t we take you out of that ragged suit and get you cleaned up?”

“And how do you propose we do that?”

“Well, I was thinking that I could draw you a bath and then join in?”

“Mhmm, tell me more,” the blonde purred and closed the distance between them.

Lena took Kara’s hands in hers and started backing toward the bathroom, a mischievous smirk on her face. “I think you’d like it more if I’d show you.”

They both entered the bathroom, lips touching and moving together in a slow rhythm. Kara was disappointed when Lena broke their closeness to start filling the tub with hot water and put in the bath salts she had laying around. The blonde thought for a moment to get out of her shredded suit, but she could not take her eyes from the sight in front of her. 

That also allowed Lena to be the one who undressed Kara, gently tracing her hands up and down her girlfriend’s body until the tub filled with water.

“Why don’t you get in, sweetie?” The brunette suggested and Kara stepped in the tub, but not before pressing her lips against Lena’s one more time.

After the blonde did as she was told, Lena took off her own clothes, feeling Kara’s eyes on her as she did. With a smile, she got in and settled behind Kara. She then wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and rested her head at the back of Kara’s neck. Lena was holding the blonde tight, as to have some kind of proof that Kara was alive and well in her arms. With a contented sigh, she gave in to the feeling of closeness between the two of them, at the same time feeling her soul reaching out for Kara’s.

Kara could feel it too, on top of the reassurance that Lena returned to her and that she would not let her go ever again. With a relieved breath, she let go of her burdens and focused on her girlfriend, and her alone, letting her head rest back on Lena's shoulder and feeling how their souls found each other and started healing the broken pieces.

They got lost in each other, breaths and heartbeats synchronising while they truly became one. Lena took Kara’s scent in one more time before pressing kisses at the back of her neck, her clavicles, her shoulders and going lower down her spine, until she had under her lips every patch of skin available to her. Kara could only give herself completely to the feeling and to Lena's care, absent-mindedly lifting her hand and intertwining their fingers together across her chest.

The brunette continued to press lazy kisses to her girlfriend's skin, reaching to her cheek and just below her ear, before giving in and whispering the thought that has been on top of her mind ever since she had Kara back in her arms.

"I thought I was going to lose you."

Kara did not know if it was done unconsciously or not, but when the brunette spoke she somehow tightened the grip on her, not that Kara minded being even closer to Lena.

"Your mother's going to have to try harder if she wants to get rid of me. I don't plan on going anywhere."

"Ugh, don't let her hear you say that, she doesn't need any more encouragement!" Lena protested while letting go of Kara's hands and started moving her fingers up and down the blonde’s sides.  

"Oh, I know that, but what I meant was that-", Kara was interrupted by Lena's lazy fingers ghost-touching her ribs and tickling her.

Lena's grin threatened to take over her whole face when she heard Kara's sweet laugh, something that she missed hearing. Not getting enough of her girlfriend's sounds, Lena continued her torture, despite Kara’s protests.

It did not take long for the blonde to start squirming in the CEO's arms, and when Kara was almost out of breath from not able to stifle her laughs, Lena stopped her assault on the blonde's ribs.

Kara was able to finally relax, leaning her entire body weight against Lena's chest and nuzzling underneath her chin.

With an incredulous look at the blonde puppy in front of her, Lena reached her arms around her girlfriend's body, taking a sponge and idling moving it against Kara’s skin, while her mouth was busy laying soft kisses on Kara’s face.

They continued like that until every inch of Kara's body, as well as her hair, were washed. In the second Lena told her that she was done, Kara turned her whole body around and instantly wrapped her arms around the brunette's neck, connecting their lips into a passionate kiss.

"I've wanted to do that for so long. Thank you for taking care of me. Nobody's done that for me before," the blonde confessed.

Lena simply stared at Kara, taken by her beauty. She could not think of words that would be appropriate, so she settled to reply with another kiss filled with love.

"Come on, we should get out before the water gets colder," Lena proposed after ending their kiss.

She got out and helped Kara as well, before going to prepare their bed. In the meantime, Kara was left to towel dry her hair. When she finished, the blonde sneaked back into their bedroom and surprised her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her from behind.

Lena jumped slightly because of the scare, but Kara made it up to her by connecting their lips once again. What started as lazy, soft kisses, suddenly turned into passionate and hungry ones as Kara could feel her desire coil in her lower belly. She backed the brunette toward the bed until the back of her feet touched the mattress.

Lena allowed Kara that brief moment of control before they reached the bed, but before Kara could get any false ideas she swapped their position, climbing on top of the blonde and brushing her tongue on Kara's lower lip, asking for entrance.

The blonde deepened their kiss and moved her hands up on Lena's body to cup her breasts. Before they could move things further, Lena stopped what they were doing, much to her girlfriend's surprise.

“Why did we stop?” Kara asked confused.

“Because you’ve been through a lot, Kara, and you should rest, not strain yourself.”

“Kissing is hardly doing any effort,” the blonde rolled her eyes in feigned indignation.

“Is kissing all that you had in mind, then?” Lena could not keep the smugness out of her voice.

“You got me there. But, Lena,” Kara’s voice dropped a few octaves, “I want this. I want you…”

Looking into her girlfriend’s sincere eyes and listening to her reasons was stripping Lena off any restrain she had left. She knew that Kara should be resting, but after all they have been through, Lena wanted to re-establish their connection and to show Kara how much the blonde meant to her. She wanted to make love to Kara, and hearing her girlfriend say that she wanted the same thing made Lena forget why she hesitated in the first place.

With a tender smile, Lena reached in and gently kissed Kara, the blonde’s soft lips falling open at the brush of Lena’s tongue. The brunette let her kisses trail down Kara’s jawline, her neck, collarbone and back up, where she whispered into her ear. “I love you, Kara. Now let me show you just how much.”

She pulled back up to look into Kara’s eyes, at the same time moving her hand lower on her girlfriend’s body, tracing the tip of her fingers past Kara’s abdomen and stopping there. They stood like that for a few moments, just gazing into each other’s eyes and sharing all the things they left unsaid. It was not until Kara confessed that she also loved Lena that the brunette moved her hand even lower and made love to her girlfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, Leapyearbaby29 suggested after the last update that I should add some smut, and while this is not exactly that, is – uhm – close? This is what I felt like writing, considering the fact that the past chapters were heavy on emotions and especially with all the hurt going around. Of course, I also felt like a missed opportunity to have Lena not take advantage of having her gf without her superpowers, but I figured that I can always write that scenario – Lena _is_ an engineer after all.
> 
> I’d love to hear more thoughts/suggestions on this chapter or the future ones… it helps with the direction I take.


End file.
